The Ultimate Beef Liver Recipe - Paleo and Whole30 Compliant (2024)

FAQs

What do you soak beef liver in before cooking? ›

While we are used to soaking liver in vinegar or lemon to get rid of the bad smell and kill any remaining toxins, American and European chefs advise to soak liver in milk. Yes, that's right: Milk! They claim that in addition to getting rid of toxins that usually are present in raw liver, milk helps tenderizing it.

Liver is extremely nutritious and less expensive than most beef products. It's very lean, so it's most often pan-seared quickly to brown and keep it from drying out, although it can also be baked, braised, grilled or made into paté or liverwurst.

Don't overcook it! Any cook will tell you the number one rule when cooking beef liver is not to overcook it. Medium, or medium to rare, is the best way to serve any type of liver to get the best flavor and softest texture. If you overcook liver, it becomes tough and loses its delicate texture.

Soak the liver in a dish or bowl of milk for 30-60 minutes. This is an important step in removing the bitter flavor from the liver. Salt and pepper the liver generously, and leave it out at room temperature while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Pat the liver dry.

Remove your liver from the soaked milk. You can rinse it with cold water or cook it as it is to maintain the flavour. Slice your onions finely, then add cooking oil or butter to a sufuria. Saute until it starts to turn brown before adding in your garlic.

Since a raw liver has high water content, you have to cook it rapidly with medium to high heat.

1) Beef liver is a great example of becoming more nutritious with cooking. When you cook beef liver, the heat breaks down some of the nutrients but also makes other nutrients easier to digest and absorb. Beef liver is a rich source of copper, retinol (preformed vitamin A), some iron, and B vitamins.

This liver and onions recipe will turn liver haters into converts! It's very simple to make but the three things that will set your liver above all others are: 1) soak in milk, 2) turn the liver as little as possible when cooking, and 3) don't overcook.

Eating a single serving of liver can help you meet your daily recommended amount of most of these vitamins and minerals, reducing your risk of nutrient deficiency. Liver is also very high in protein, a nutrient that's essential for you to build and maintain healthy tissue, including muscle, skin, and bone.

What is the healthiest way to eat beef liver? ›

Here are some suggestions on how to include it in your diet: Pan-frying it: Liver works well when pan-fried with onions. Using it in Spaghetti Bolognese: Liver can be chopped or minced and then mixed with regular ground beef. Calf or chicken livers work best.

Two of the most prized livers are calf's liver and chicken livers. Both are on the sweeter end of the offal spectrum, mild in their meatiness and relatively tender and delicate, though for obvious reasons, chicken livers are much, much smaller than the other meats mentioned here.

Do not wash or rinse raw meat or poultry before you cook it. Washing can cause bacteria found on the surface of meat or poultry to be spread to ready-to-eat foods, kitchen utensils, and counter surfaces. This is called cross-contamination. Rinse fruits and vegetables before eating.

But Czerwony advises against that. Like all raw meat, liver can have salmonella, E. coli or Campylobacter bacteria that cause serious digestive infections. “Eating undercooked or raw meat, including beef liver, increases your risk for potentially life-threatening foodborne illnesses,” she warns.

The green coloring is due to bile leaching out from the gallbladder and into the liver. Green livers are not harmful if eaten but are removed and condemned in the slaughter plant for aesthetic reasons. Sometimes the gallbladder or a portion of it remains attached to the liver.

Some livers, like chicken livers, are mild enough to be cooked without any additional preparation. But beef liver, being from a larger animal, can be quite strong in flavor. There are ways however to diminish the strength of liver flavor by soaking it in whole milk (raw preferred!), apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice.

Some chefs insist on soaking in salt and lemon water. Others opt to soak in ice water or milk to lessen the intensity from an older animal. Others suggest that you should never soak a fresh liver and that its quick preparation is part of the appeal.

Pat the liver dry with a paper towel before submerging it in whole milk, buttermilk or red wine in a covered container or resealable, plastic bag. Let the liver marinate in the liquid for 30 to 60 minutes in your fridge. The liquid will tenderize the meat and help minimize the liver's mineral taste.

In a non-reactive sealable container, marinate the beef liver in apple cider vinegar for at least 8 hours (or up to 24 hours). Rinse the beef liver slices under cold running water and pat them real dry.