Liver Tigania

I’ve recently enjoyed liver…say the last 8 years. I once took a gal on a date to a restaurant in Toronto’s Greektown. She was not Greek but she loved Greek food and it’s my pleasure to share our cuisine with “xeni”.

This lady orders the special of the day: “liver with onions with fries”. I’m thinking okay but why doesn’t this person try some of the more traditional dishes? She insisted liver was her choice and when her main arrived, it looked good and smelled good.

I offered her a taste of my dish and she reciprocated (gulp). I had to try liver – something I did not enjoy for most of my life. I took the bite and I was pleasantly surprised! The liver was pink in the middle, the taste more subtle than I remember and with the onions on top, all that much better.

Since that date, I’ve had liver on many occasions, especially when in Greece. Over there, it could be from veal, chicken, lamb and even pork!

Today’s dish is a sharing plate of liver with onions that have melted away, olive oil, wine, bay and finished with a good squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of dried Greek oregano. A dish truly for “kalofagades”.

Liver TiganiaRecipe by Peter MinakiCourse: Main, Meat u0026amp; Poultry

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 kg. of lamb liver

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into slices

• 1/2 cup dry white wine (or retsina)

• 3 bay leaves

• sea salt and fresh ground pepper

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

• 1-2 tsp. dried Greek oregano

• 1/4 cup of sliced scallion greens

• sprinkle of sweet paprika

Directions

• Into a pot, add about 6 cups of water, juice 1/2 lemon and a couple of bay leaves and bring to a boil. Place the liver into the water and reduce heat to medium low and poach for 15 minutes. Remove the liver and allow to cool (discard liquid).
• Once the liver has cooled, cut into bite sized pieces.
• Place a large skillet on your stovetop over medium high heat and add 1/4 cup olive oil. Add your liver, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and saute until browned.
• Add the onions wine, 3 bay leaves a touch more salt and pepper. Add enough hot water to almost cover the live and bring up to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover.
• Simmer for approx. 30 minutes then take off the lid. If there’s a lot of liquid, simmer until the you have a tighter sauce.
• Add salt and pepper to taste, squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon and serve in the pan or transfer to a plate. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle Greek oregano, scallions and paprika. Serve with good crusty bread.

Notes

• Why eat liver? Liver is an excellent source of both iron and vitamin B12, which work in combination to keep your blood cells in good working condition. In fact, one of the earliest treatments for pernicious anemia was to regularly eat beef liver.

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