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Liver, Braised
Wash and dry the liver of a calf, sheep, or lamb, and season it with pepper, grated lemon peel, and powdered herbs. Put some sliced vegetables in a stewpan to form a bed; cover with slices of bacon, lay the liver on, and put more bacon on the top of that; put on the lid, and let it cook for ten minutes. Add plain stock to half the depth of the pan, put a greased paper over, replace the lid, then cook in a gentle oven or on top of the range. When done, dish the liver, brush it with glaze, and put it in a puree of vegetables, or whole mushrooms laid on a hot dish; garnish with vegetables separately cooked. Skim and reduce the gravy, pour a little over the liver, and serve the rest in a tureen. Probable cost, 9d. per pound.
A straightforward braise, but the original assumes you know how long a whole liver takes and how hot a "gentle oven" is. Both need pinning down.
- The hinge: do not overcook itLiver goes grainy and dry the moment it passes medium. The original gives no time at all; as a rough guide a whole calf's liver of 2-3 lb will want something like 45-60 minutes at 325F, and a lamb's or sheep's liver considerably less. Test with a skewer or thermometer at the thickest point and judge by feel rather than by a fixed clock time.
- Gentle ovenRead this as 300-325F. The liquid should barely tremble; a full simmer toughens the meat.
- The first ten minutesThis is a covered sweat over low heat on the stove, not a sear. It renders the bacon and starts the vegetable bed giving up moisture before the stock goes in. Keep the heat low so nothing catches.
- Greased paperA cartouche: a round of parchment cut to the pan's diameter, buttered, laid directly on the food under the lid. It keeps the exposed top of the liver from drying and stops condensation dripping and washing off seasoning. Parchment works exactly as well as the original's greased paper.
- "Powdered herbs"Unspecified in the original; dried thyme and marjoram with a little sage or bay, crushed fine, suit it. A scant teaspoon in total for a calf's liver is plenty alongside the lemon zest.
- Plain stockAn unseasoned, unthickened brown or veal stock. If using commercial stock, choose the lowest-salt version available, since the bacon and the later reduction will both concentrate salt sharply.
- GlazeMeat glaze, or glace de viande: stock boiled down until it is syrupy and coats a spoon. In practice, reduce a ladle of the strained braising liquid to a few tablespoons and brush that on.
- Membrane and soakingPeel off the thin outer membrane before cooking or the liver will curl and tighten. Sheep's and lamb's liver are stronger in flavour than calf's; an hour in milk before cooking mutes them, though this is optional.
- YieldA 2 lb calf's liver serves about six as a main course. Slice it thinly at the table and spoon the vegetable puree beneath rather than over.
Liver has almost no connective tissue and very little fat, so it dries out badly under dry heat; braising it whole in a sealed pan on a bed of vegetables and bacon is one nineteenth-century answer to that, alongside the more familiar fried slice. The closing price line -- ninepence a pound -- marks it as a cheap dish. Whole liver braised in the piece has largely vanished from British and American cooking, displaced by the quick-fried slice.