My mom used to fry it to death. Then, just to make sure it was fit to bury, she added a cup of water to the pan, covered it and boiled for another half hour. Gray, crumbly, and stuck to the roof of your mouth. NOT recommended. I used to douse it with a quart of ketchup.
When I married a guy who liked liver I knew there had to be a better way. My method is based on the French technique- from one of the original "Galloping Gourmet" cookbooks in the seventies - before he went "low fat" hee hee. Joooooolia probably has a good way to do it, too. I never order liver "out" unless it is a French restaurant (when I have trouble deciding between liver and sweetbreads) or the VERY best place I ever had it- Gallagher's restaurant in NYC. (A steak and prime rib place, very pricey but worth the pilgrimage whenever I'm in NYC.)
This is what I do to keep it tender and almost creamy. We like it with onions, so I put about three Tablespoons of butter in a large non-stick pan and saute the yellow onion slices (2 large onions; 1/4 in. thick slices) until they come apart and are very limp and a little golden. Slowly so the butter doesn't burn. Push the onions to the perimeter of the pan. I leave the liver (calf's if you can get it) about 1/2" thick like it comes from the butcher and I do cut out all those little hard vein-y things. Then salt and pepper lightly and dredge in some plain flour shaking most of it off (the seasoning will stick to the meat; the flour is over it).
Saute the liver in the remaining butter in the pan; add a little more if you need it maybe just a Tbsp more. (Onions are pushed to the edges or can be removed if the pan is too crowded.) Saute just until spots of blood begin to "bloom" through the flour and show up on the top side. Turn and cook for about one minute more...no longer. The inside should be opaque but still pink. Melts in your mouth.
Susanna in So. Cal.
wondering who first thought of eating these things?
(9/18/02)
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