Thoughts on Liver

I guess it's true, few people like liver. My mother doctored up chicken livers and served them with onions, but never tried to force any other type on us. I never served it to my children, except in cold cuts. Recently, I bought braunswager for the first time in years. My four-year-old granddaughter loved it and looked for more the next time she came. The others looked at her like she had lost her mind. This was a fun story - thanks.

Thanks, Sandy. And I always thought they loved that meal. Anyway it was GOOD for them.

Every time I plan a trip to the high country, I tenderize a half-pound of liver in milk and salt for a few hours in the fridge, then saute it with about 2 onions on the night before I leave. Sometimes I add tomatoes or mushrooms, even basil, for texture and flavor. (A little salt, a little pepper, a little Tabasco.)

The point? Liver is chock-full of iron and B12, the building blocks of the hemoglobin molecule. Up in the high country, one is exposed to much less oxygen, so the body must compensate by having the stores it requires to create additional red blood cells to take in that sweet but scarce oxygen.

I've definitely noticed the difference during strenuous hiking and mountaineering. While my other "sea-level" buddies have faltered on the trail, I, at 48 years old, have been able to scamper merrily ahead of them, often enjoying the view from the top well before they arrive.

All because of good ol' liver. Yu-u-um! I think my mom raised me right.

I enjoy liver tho lots of people scoff at it. Good story.

Liver IS delicious. Especially with Fava Beans. Someday I'll post some of my favorite recipes. Regards. H. Lechter.

Dress it up all you want I won't,can't eat it. Yet my dad loves it and when I was young mom would surprise him on occasion. The surprise was on the 9 kids. He ate to hurts content

I always have an argument with my mother..she used to cook liver once a week too for heatlh reasons..i was for a long time a vegeterian and till this day am careful about my meat-isn't liver the place where the body rids of what it does not need?I prefer to take my B12 tablets.I seriously doubt meat can be healthy these days but my mother insists till this day that no one can be healthy unless they eat their liver..must admit though give me chopped liver on rhye bread any day with fried onions! my kids will run out the door..luckily for them the dog is always sitting beneath the table waiting for something to come her way..

Liver is a filter.
Yuck.

You either love it or hate it. Russ, your recipe sounds really good. At one point in raising the family, I was on a "eat a power breakfast" and liver was on the menu once a week.
Cathy, it is a filter, so it's important to buy your meat organic, and local raised it you can find it.

LOL! You know Carol, This could be part of a Parental torture theme! LOL. Very cute. I hate liver though... GROSS for sure.

carol - yes, i was the cousin with the rest of the ketchup! YIKES! i will never forget that first bite. i thought i'd gone to hell. thank god the rest of the food you cooked was awesome. how about all that whipped cream?? SIGH. great article!

The whipped cream Jess refers to is that we always had at least a gallon of heavy cream in the fridge from the Jersey cow.

I have always eaten just about anything. But I confess there have been two foods I've never quite been able to get down. One is liver and the other is hominy -- which I don't suppose people eat much any more. But I've known many people who love liver and their liking it has never bothered me. It's curious how many people enjoy being dogmatic about food, declaring it either good or bad without taking personal taste into account. I once knew a guy who didn't like cherries and said they were disgusting.

Hominy--I had a friend who used to make it and she would give me some when she did. I mean she used the lye on the corn , etc. I love hominy grits, store bought, but that hominy --ughm,--I couldn't get it down. I imagined I could taste the lye.

My mother served liver on Fridays, except during Lent.

I prayed for fish sticks.......

Like Russ, I'm a fan of liver (calves liver, to be precise). I love it cooked up with a mess of onions and bacon strips (ok, I know about the bacon but still, those flavors together are dyn-O-mite!) If you're still servin' it, set another place next Tuesday, Carol . . . What time d'ya say?

N

Liver and onions are so good, and there's an extra plate for you Ms. N. I also though chicken liver, bacon onion, and green peppers are a great combo too.

Are you southern? Liver & onions was the only thing my grandpa would cook, bless his heart. To me, it was like eating warm chalk, but I always got a kick out of seeing him take command of the kitchen. I sure wish he were around... now I might like it.

Nope, grew up in northern Michigan, but with a southern mother. I think it's big up here in the north. every restaurant worth it's salt, serves it, mostly on Tuesdays? I don't know whatTuesday is about.

That's funny- my grandparents lived most of their lives in Michigan, originally from TN

Mimi, you can read about my mother's journey from Georgia to Detroit when she was a little girl at this site The Rocking Chair's Story

when my kids were little,we would have liver once a week,the day we had it my daughter went to her grandfather's for the day and lo and behold he made it. Sheate his liver out of love for him and then decided that she liked liver,but it had to be the way grandpa makes it.I only use calves liver as it is tenderer than just beef liver and i believe it is thinner.(it has to have bacon and onions and then cook the liver in some of the rendered drippings from the bacon.yummy

The best thing about liver, in addition to being delicious, is that it's cheap!!!

BFS

Ah yes, it's cheap and boneless. And it used to be you could get a pound of chicken livers for 25c a pound.

To me the taste is...ugh... like bitter dust might taste. That plus the fact that I know it's a filtration system and I feel like this can't POS-sibly be good for me. So... I pass.

I love liver and onions a really great meal. What I have not seen in a long while is kidney. We used to have that a lot when i was a kid. It was an English dish i understand. How does everyone like the new layout?

I never had kidney pie. Just wasn't in our family. I think some of these dishes, like liver,tripe, sweet breads, kidney, haggis, lutefisk, have to be familial. I do like the new set up but haven't figured all of it out yet.

My brother, John, wrote a comment earlier about how he has never liked liver. For me, it's one of the best dishes our mother made. Breaded and fried calves liver with onions, fried chicken livers, and chicken livers with rice were three of the best she made. Oh, well, that's brothers and that's families. Variety, indeed, is the spice of life.

You're right Neil. those were my girls that didn't like it but the boys loved it.

I worked at a restaurant in New York in the theatre district, and one of the entrees was calves' liver and onions. It turned out to be the most highly picked item on the menu, besides prime rib. I never knew so many people on the East Coast loved liver; my mom used to burn it when I was a kid. Ever since that job, I've eaten liver often. And now I've added a love of kidney here in Spain!