Liver & Apple Onions (with side of sauerkraut)

This recipe serves 4

There are many great ways to eat liver such as Liverwurst Sausage, Liver Pâté and the always popular Liver and Onions. This recipe will turn liver haters into converts. It’s very simple! The three things that will set your liver above all others are: 1) soak liver in milk first, 2) turn liver as little as possible when cooking and 3) don't overcook!

Shopping for offal (liver, kidneys and other organs): Ask your local butcher or talk to your local rancher. When you buy beef directly from your farmer you can usually get the organs too! Check out foodgenie.ca to find locally raised grass finished beef.

Ingredients

1 pound beef liver, rinsed, peeled, de-veined and sliced (chicken livers don’t need to be peeled.

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

1 1/2 cups milk (for soaking)

1 medium apple, peeled and cut into chunks or slices

8 strips uncured bacon (optional)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp Himalayan Salt to taste

1 cup Fermented Sauerkraut (Side)

1 cup Jasmine Rice, cooked (optional)

Instructions for Liver & Apple Onions

1. Gently rinse liver slices under cold water, and place in a bowl. Pour in enough milk to cover. (I like to soak overnight but even an hour or two is great - whatever you have time for.) This step is helpful to take bitter taste out.

2. In a large skillet, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove to a plate. Break into pieces.

3. Drain most of the bacon grease (but save it - because it’s awesome), leaving enough to sauté the onions. Add more grease as needed for the apples and liver in the following steps. Add the butter (because it adds to flavour)

4. Add the onion slices and minced garlic to the skillet and sauté onions until tender. Also add the cherry tomatoes

5. Add the apple chunks to the skillet and sauté just until heated through.

6. Remove the onions and apples to a dish.

7. Take liver slices out of milk. Add to the skillet and quickly cook on medium high heat. Only turn once and do not overcook! Leave inside slightly pink (about 3 minutes per side)

8. Add salt, return the onions, apples, and bacon pieces to the skillet. Toss to combine. Serve with a side of sauerkraut. Optional: Serve on a bed a Jasmine rice.

Did you know that wild animals eat the organs of their kill before eating anything else? That’s called eating with intuition and efficiency. The liver happens to be one of the most nutrient dense superfoods on the planet!

Organ meats are extremely rich in antioxidants, vitamins A and D and plenty of macro and trace minerals. They also contain essential fatty acids (the ones our body’s can’t create) and very-long-chain super-unsaturated fatty acids (those are the good ones).

Myths about liver

Myth: Livers are high in toxins

Truth: The liver’s main function is to cleanse the body of toxins. However, contrary to believe this does not mean that eating livers means eating the toxins that have been purified from the body. The liver’s job is to get rid of the toxins entirely – not to store them up.

Myth: Livers are difficult to cook

Truth: Liver used to be a very popular source of meat and doesn’t take a great deal of finesse to cook. You can pan fry it as you would a chicken breast, and you’ll know when it’s cooked when the colour has changed throughout.

With a simple addition of onions and cherry tomatoes in the pan, you’ll have a tasty meal. You can also include liver in meat pies, stews and other recipes that would benefit from a rich meaty taste.