Dining Car Calf Liver Recipes

Steps:

• In a large glass baking dish, add liver and milk and let soak for 20 minutes.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, add bacon and butter and cook until fat has rendered, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain and reserve 3 tablespoons fat in skillet. Reserve remaining fat.
• Cook onions with salt and pepper, to taste, in bacon fat in skillet over moderate heat for 10 minutes or until caramelized. Transfer onions to a bowl and add bacon. Set aside.
• Pat liver dry and discard milk. In a large zip-top bag, add flour, Essence, salt and pepper. Working in batches, add liver and shake to coat. Set aside on baking sheet until ready to cook.
• Add 2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat to skillet over high heat and add liver; cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Turn liver over, remove pan from heat, add sherry and beef broth, return pan to heat and shake and flambe. Cook on second side for about 2 minutes or until cooked through. Serve liver with pan sauce, topped with onions and bacon.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

Steps:

• Place liver in a nonreactive (ceramic or glass) bowl and pour milk over. Refrigerate, covered, 5 to 6 hours.
• In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. When butter is shimmering, add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring more frequently until onions are very soft and brown, 30 to 40 minutes more.
• Drain liver and discard milk. Pat liver dry with paper towels.
• Spread flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Thoroughly coat liver with the flour mixture, shaking off excess.
• Heat a large (13-inch) saute pan over medium heat and add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the oil and heat until shimmering. Cook (in batches, if necessary, to avoid crowding pan) until liver is firm (but not hard) and browned on the outside but still slightly pink in the center, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining liver, adding more oil to the pan as necessary. Add sage and cook for 1 minute more.
• Divide liver among plates and top with onions.

Steps:

• Gently rinse liver slices under cold water, and place in a medium bowl. Pour in enough milk to cover. Let stand while preparing onions. (I like to soak up to an hour or two - whatever you have time for.) This step is SO important in taking the bitter taste of the liver out.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Separate onion rings, and saute them in butter until soft. Remove onions, and melt remaining butter in the skillet. Season the flour with salt and pepper, and put it in a shallow dish or on a plate. Drain milk from liver, and coat slices in the flour mixture.
• When the butter has melted, turn the heat up to medium-high, and place the coated liver slices in the pan. Cook until nice and brown on the bottom. Turn, and cook on the other side until browned. Add onions, and reduce heat to medium. Cook a bit longer to taste. Our family prefers the liver to just barely retain a pinkness on the inside when you cut to check. Enjoy!

Steps:

• Sprinkle the liver slices with salt and pepper, and dredge the slices in flour. Shake off the excess.
• Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet large enough to hold the slices in one layer. Add the slices and cook about 1 1/2 minutes on one side. Turn them over and cook about 1 1/2 minutes on the other side.
• Transfer the slices to a warm platter and wipe the skillet.
• Heat the butter until it starts to brown slightly. Add the capers and cook about 1 minute over relatively high heat. Add the tomatoes and cook about 30 seconds. Add the vinegar and stir. Pour the sauce over the liver and sprinkle with parsley.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). With a long sharp knife, carefully slice open the piece of liver like a wallet.
• To make the stuffing, grab a sauté pan and melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. It seems like a lot of butter because it is. After 2 minutes, add the ham and the shallot. Sweat it for a minute or two and then add the mushrooms, Cognac, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to draw the water from the mushrooms. Stir in the garlic, parsley, and a pinch of pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Lastly, add the bread and mix everything together. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Spoon the stuffing carefully into the veal wallet. Unlike a real wallet, you want this one only three-quarters full. Squeeze the top to make sure that the bottom is full. Now sew the top shut with bamboo skewers. It doesn't have to be perfect; just shut it so the stuffing doesn't fall out.
• In a small cocotte or other small flameproof casserole, melt 2 tablespoons butter with a pinch each of salt and pepper over medium heat. When the butter is foaming, fit the liver in the pan and place in the oven for 12 minutes.
• Time to make the herb crust: Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, let cool, then mix with the Parmesan, mustard, and chives.
• After 12 minutes, take the liver out but don't turn off the oven. With a spoon, smear the buttery crust on top of the liver. Add the stock to the pan, return the pan to the oven, and bake for another 5 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 135°F (58°C).
• Take out the skewers, let the liver rest for a minute, then slice and serve.

Steps:

• Rinse liver to remove any traces of blood and discard membrane and any tough veins. Cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
• Cook onions in 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute. Cover skillet and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm, covered.
• Pat half of liver slices dry and toss with salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté seasoned liver, shaking skillet and turning liver, until browned on both sides but still pink inside, about 2 minutes. Put cooked liver on top of onions and cover.
• Add water to skillet and deglaze, scraping up brown bits and boiling until liquid is slightly reduced. Pour sauce over cooked liver and wipe skillet clean. Sauté remaining liver as above, then add rest of liver with onions and parsley, tossing briefly.

Steps:

• Wash liver, put in a zip bag with milk and put in the ice box for an hour or so.
• Remove liver from bag, season with salt and pepper. Dust the liver with flour in a pan and leave them in the flour.
• In a medium sized skillet, sauté the onions in butter until slightly brown and remove and drain Drain any leftover butter in a cup. While doing this, dust the liver once more and set on a plate. Let the liver rest a few minutes.
• Add the cooking oil to the same pan and heat until ready to fry inches Put two or three pieces of liver in the oil leaving a 1" space between each. Keep the oil at a good temperature to maintain frying. Fry liver on each side until golden brown and remove. You are not trying to fully cook it, just brown it.
• Take the liver out, put it a plate and cover it with foil. Pour the oil out into the the cup with the butter in it to make about 1/4 cup; pour this back in the pan and put on a medium fire. Add enough flour to make a small medium brown roux. Add chicken stock (or water) enough to make the roux a medium thickness. Be sure to boil this and sprinkle some garlic powder in it.
• Remove roux and in the same pan return liver, onions (regular and green) and roux. Cook on medium fire for about 15 minutes (stirring every 5 minutes) or so or until liver is done but not overdone.

Steps:

• Preheat a broiler. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté bacon, turning as needed, until crispy. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Discard excess bacon fat but do not wash pan.
• Return pan to medium heat. Add oil, onions and paprika. Sauté until onions are very soft and beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Toward the end of cooking, season liver with salt and pepper to taste, and broil as desired, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes a side for a medium (lightly pink) center.
• To serve, remove onions from heat and season with salt to taste. Place a slice of liver on each of two serving plates. Smother with onions and top with bacon. Serve hot.