Week 5: Lamb's liver with orange

Sometimes it seems as though some dishes will hove themselves into view and push their ingredients upon you no matter what you do. This week, wondering how to follow on from last week's squid, I looked into my recipe books and three recipes caught my eye, including this week’s one of liver. As the rain battered against my kitchen window panes and the wind threatened to blow the whole house down, I mulled over which of the liver, smoked haddock or Thai salad recipes to cook.

While engaged in this gentle cogitation, thinking which would make me feel best while foul weather did its worst outside, I took a Skype call from good friend Shaun in Milan. He happened to be cooking lambs liver, and quite excited he was about it too. Later on that day I chatted to my mother in Torquay, who told me apropos of nothing at all, that she hadn’t had lamb’s liver recently but would really like a good bit for dinner. And then, going to the local Morrisons, which of the three key ingredients could I only find? Lamb’s liver. So, it’s with no great surprise that I go offal-side of the field this week and cook this recipe from Grandma’s Cookbook. Serves 4.

·  About 25g fat/lard/beef dripping	·  Zest of ½ orange, finely grated
·  1 large onion, thinly sliced	·  Juice of a whole orange
·  1 clove of garlic, crushed	·  150ml of strong beef stock
·  400g lamb’s liver, cut into slices	·  Pinch of chilli powder
·  20g plain flour	·  Salt and pepper

Pour a glass of wine to drink while cooking, especially if cooking in the evening after work.

Melt the fat in the frying pan and then fry the onion and garlic gently until translucent. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Dust the liver in flour and fry lightly on both sides, stirring any remaining flour into the fat. Now return the onions and garlic to the pan.

Stir in the orange zest, orange juice beef stock and the pinch of chilli powder. Also pop in a little salt and a generous helping of freshly ground black pepper. Stir well and cook over a low heat. Another good option is to cook it gently in a casserole in the oven.

If frying, test after five minutes (give it longer if casseroling) by inserting the end of a sharp knife into one of the liver slices – if the juice runs red, cook for another 5 minutes or so. It tastes best if the meat is just cooked. Add more seasoning as your taste suggests.

Serve with some creamy mash and another glass of a medium-bodied red (NB. In the picture I rather overdid the liver portion; I was hungry!)

Today’s learning:

Cut the liver thinly and stew it gently and with plenty of seasoning. This will help keep it tender and tasty. Fly in the face of this advice and you’ll end up with something rather leathery. Oh, and don’t be shy of liver; it’s really not bad at all. Great sauce in this one, too. 

Recipe taken from: Mason, L. & Paston-Williams, S. (2013) Grandma’s Cookbook: Recipes inspired by the National Trust. London: National Trust Books