Fast forward a bunch of years, and I told my then-boyfriend that I was making liver and onions for dinner for us. He gave me an odd little look, but didn't say anything.
That night, he didn't look enthusiatic when dinner got to the table, but he sat down anyway. A guy's got to eat.
He took put some on his plate with a resigned expression on his face. And then he started eating, and his expression changed.
And then he asked me what it was.
"Liver and onions."
"But...but...I can stick a fork in it...I can cut it with a knife! I don't even need a knife! I can cut it with a fork! What is this, really?"
I had no idea what he was going on about. I'd only eaten liver and onions cooked one way. I'd learned it from my mother, and that was how I cooked it that night. It seemed perfectly normal to me, but he was going on like I'd turned hamburger helper into beef wellington.
Later, he confessed that he never liked liver before. The only liver he'd ever eaten was tough and chewy. This was the first time he'd ever had a tender piece of liver, and from that moment on, it became one of his favorite meals.
And of course I joke that he married me just because of that meal of liver and onions.
Once in a while I modify the recipe just a little. Sometimes I cut the liver in small slices, sometimes I add mushrooms or green peppers. This last time, I added some precooked baby potatoes to the onions, just to heat them up. But for the most part, the recipe stays the same. Because I like tender liver.
The secret to tender liver is pretty simple.
First, coat the liver lightly with some flour. You can season the flour if you want, but I generally leave it plain. Some cayenne might be nice, though.
Second, cook it hot and fast. By the time the outside is browned, the inside is cooked. If you're not sure it's cooked, cut it open and peek inside. It should be just cooked through, but not cooked to death. A little pink is fine.
Since liver cooks so fast, there's no way you can start cooking the liver and onions at the same time. It's best to cook the onions first at a lower temperature (with a little salt and pepper) so they soften nicely and brown just a little, the remove them from the pan. Then raise the heat and cook the liver.
You can add the onions back to the pan at the end if they need a little warming, or just let them mingle on your serving plate.
Cookistry went on hiatus for a while, but I'm back and blogging. Possibly sporadically, but I plan on updating it more than in the previous years. Thanks for reading!
