Liver and Onions: Way or No Way?
Don't have it often, but I love baby calves liver, floured & cooked with bacon and onions. Gravy for the mashed potatoes. So good, so WAY.
Growing up, we had it at least once a week because my mother was iron deficient. She let us smother it with applesauce, but I still remember wanting to run when I smelled it cooking. Luckily, my tastes have changed.
I also used to prepare it with tomato juice when I was eating it once a week on the Weight Watchers diet. Can't compare to bacon, but it wasn't bad.
How about you? Is it "offal" or WAY?
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35 Comments:
OH definite WAY...calves liver, chicken liver, with or without onions... Perky , love these "late at nite" questions
calliope at 12:01AM on 01/24/09
NO way
I would love to say WAY because I am so anemic and my doctors and nurses tried to convince me to eat it...but can't get through the gamey chalky taste. I have 5 sisters who all loved it when we were growing up...parents served it often...I would just gag...
lamora at 12:19AM on 01/24/09
Definitely WAY, although if given a choice, I'd rather go for chicken livers than calves, but if not - calves liver will do. Both my Mum and Gran used to cook liver: chopped or pâté, fried with onions, sometimes making a gravy with a splash of sherry or brandy and served over mash...I really miss it!
I keep wanting to buy some and make for myself, but OH does not share my liver enthusiasm (to put it mildly), so I keep denying myself this pleasure...note to self: make it when he is out of town.
brooke29 at 12:20AM on 01/24/09
I have never had it. Strangely, it's because my mom loved it. She tried to make it when pregnant with me and ended up flushing them down the toilet because she said they looked like giant blood clots (which in a way they are). She'd occasionally order it out but refused to even try to make it at home. I just choose to not eat organ meats, but I wouldn't begrudge anyone their preference.
MaresyDotes at 12:21AM on 01/24/09
No way... tried it as a kid and hated it.
And, had liver again when I lived in Spain. I knew that something was off, but being too polite to not eat, I just picked around the grey bits in the rice. My Spanish family, seeing that I wasn't horsing down food, asked me what was wrong. I politely asked what the grey bits were, but they didn't know the english word for it (after pointing out to their midsections- duh Anna! Liver!) so they told me to get my dictionary where they pointed out the word for liver, where I then explained that liver was a no go. Still is. Ick.
mcanna at 12:26AM on 01/24/09
I forgot to mention chicken liver, since that it more an appetizer for me.
Chicken liver pate' with crackers or bagel chips - I'm in heaven! Thanks for the reminder calliope!
Baby calves liver and onions is dinner. Haven't had any other liver and onion combos, yet!
PerkyMac at 12:37AM on 01/24/09
@calliope ~ insomnia, even with meds. gonna give zzzzz's another shot. ;) glad something good came out of it, anyway, eh?
PerkyMac at 12:40AM on 01/24/09
WAY!
We used to serve them at the restaurant, floured and grilled on the big flattop, smothered with onions and brown gravy. Crispy, sometimes blackened exterior gave way to that dense but still tender interior. The onions, still firm enough to add a little crunch, brought sweetness to the rich and heady gravy, made from a dark delicious roux. Oh god I want some now!!
Chicken livers are another fav. Fried is nice, but I've taken a liking to slow-cooked Asian methods, like an adobong vinegar/soy preparation, or roasted alongside a whole chicken. Last time I had some particularly crispy, salty chicken livers, I sliced them up and added to a spinach salad - delish!! Like bacon - almost.
hungryinhouston at 12:40AM on 01/24/09
I haven't had the classic liver and onions preparation, but I love liver just about any way I can get it!
fuuchan at 12:41AM on 01/24/09
I puke a little inside every time I think about it.
beth1 at 1:04AM on 01/24/09
Always wanted to try it, never had the chance. I love chicken livers, though, so I'm guessing I'd like it.
But where do you go to eat/by it? Is it an expensive or cheap dish??
mikaque at 2:34AM on 01/24/09
@Perkz-a-lot: Hey, so you tried the Melatonin? Didn't work?
meg3j at 5:31AM on 01/24/09
Ew, ew, ew. God, I hate liver. I mean hate. There is nothing about it can stand. Taste, texture, smell... Anything from calves to duck. I shudder. I remember, a hundred years ago, rumaki was classic party fare. Well, never having heard of it, and seeing it wrapped in bacon, I too one as the server passed it 'round. OMG. I never again grabbed an hors d'oeuvres without asking what it was first.
There is one exception to this though. D'Artagnan makes this thing called a French Kiss. It's fois gras mousse stuffed inside an armagnac soaked prune. It is amazing. The armagnac cuts thru the liverish taste/smell until it is only a whisper, and the creaminess of the mousse cuts through the sharpness of the armagnac. I love those things. It seriously goes into the category of "Best Thing I Ever Put In My Mouth."
chisai at 7:07AM on 01/24/09
Oh God no!!
Italiancupcake at 7:19AM on 01/24/09
No Way. I never liked it. It is a texture thing.
pjracz10 at 7:42AM on 01/24/09
WAY WAY WAY !!!! Fry up some bacon, remove and keep warm. Sauté the onion, remove and keep warm. Then cook the liver.
I looked for some in the store yesterday but what they had didn't look that great. Next week maybe,
NanaJoie at 7:45AM on 01/24/09
WAAAAAAAAAAY! I love L&O as does my brother. My mom was the only mother on the block who didn't cremate the liver. She cooked the onions till nearly carmelized, then added the liver for only a short time - flip - another couple of minutes - done.
My mom used to make me liver & onions anytime I donated blood. It was kind of a tradition.
therealchiffonade at 7:53AM on 01/24/09
Way when I cook it for lunch at the restaurant I work at, its usually for a old lady out for the day.Most say its the best they ever had, I do like bacon wrapped chicken livers, my mom use to soak the livers in soy sauce and brown sugar first.
joanpieroni2 at 8:30AM on 01/24/09
Chicken liver; WAY. Calves liver; NO WAY!
izatryt at 8:37AM on 01/24/09
We had it weekly as a kid - liver, caramelized onions, bacon, mashed potato and gravy. We also had kidneys fried up in an English breakfast or in steak and kidney pie or pudding. Also, stuffed beef heart. I loved it all.
Then I went to work in a Hospital - just thinking about eating that stuff as a kid makes me gag. Oh, the power of suggestion!
bareneed at 9:07AM on 01/24/09
Beef or calves liver...NO WAY EVER.
Chicken, duck and goose liver...WAY.
bessfour at 9:07AM on 01/24/09
When I was a kid No Way........but now oh Way!!
Markbb at 9:36AM on 01/24/09
I cannot stand the smell of it. Cooking liver makes me not well. so NO way.
JerzeeTomato at 9:42AM on 01/24/09
not just No but HELL NO!
huneybumper at 10:15AM on 01/24/09
Not just no way--keep it away from me! (Calves liver, that is--chicken liver, if you desire to have it tucked away on a rye sandwich is fine with me, should my dining companion partake).
Long before I became a vegetarian, as a small child I ate L&O. The onions were fried, and anything fried to a kid is a-okay. But I can't stand the sight or smell of it now. And I'm from NJ so that's saying alot.
Given how you've described you current kitchen set up Perky, though, I think you're well within your rights to fry some up ;)
HeartofGlass at 10:35AM on 01/24/09
Chicken livers WAY
Any other liver NO WAY
finsbigfan at 11:07AM on 01/24/09
NO WAY
My dad loved liver, and tongue. My mom wasn't a huge fan, so she had mercy on us when she did make it. She would split a small piece of liver between me and my brother, then smother it with onions and bacon (she did pretty much a whole pound of bacon, for us) so that we could pick at other stuff and hide the liver we didn't eat without my dad noticing and getting mad.
joyyy at 11:23AM on 01/24/09
NO WAY - oh dear the thought of it brings back awful memories...
Lilartist at 12:15PM on 01/24/09
What huneybumper said
buffy at 1:20PM on 01/24/09
WAY!!! Although now my doctor tells me it has too much cholesterol so it's a limited item on my plate these days. Some hints; most people overcook liver which makes it tough and grainy and not at all appetizing. Secondly, I alway soak my liver in milk for 2-4 hours before cooking; it seems to take away some of the bitterness that others might complain about. My favorite preparation is breaded (flour, egg and breadcrumbs) and lightly fried and served with home fries and a side of tartar. Just last year I cooked some soaked liver on the "barbie" and now it shows up with every bag of charcoal! I love bacon but it seems just too extravagant an add-on to this meal...
czken at 5:23PM on 01/24/09
Never tried it. But the *No Ways* seem to have bad childhood memories about it. Maybe I'd like it since it doesn't have any negative connotations for me.
Kerosena at 12:50AM on 01/25/09
@perky the way you described how you make it with the bacon, gravy, onions and served over mash sounds really good with a different type of meat though.
pjracz10 at 4:55AM on 01/25/09
@pj ~ try it! It's so, so, so good! Bacon for flavor and fat, lots and lots of carmelized onions and floured liver - not overcooked in bacon fat. Then make the gravy and enjoy.
PerkyMac at 10:05AM on 01/25/09
No freakin'way.
AuntJone at 8:55PM on 01/25/09
No way! And I can't even be in a room with chicken liver (that was true long before I got pregnant, but now I imagine it would be REALLY bad...)
CookiePie at 1:49PM on 01/26/09