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Delicious Liver
Cut 1/2 pound calf's liver into thin slices, roll them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Prepare 1 peeled and chopped shallot, and a little chopped parsley. Melt 1 tablespoon butter, fry the shallot in it. Then put in the sliced and seasoned liver, turn pieces carefully to prevent burning, fry till brown on both sides. Add 3 tablespoons water and 3 tablespoons tomato puree, salt and paprika to taste. Simmer 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.
A small, quick saute meant for one person, and the whole thing lives or dies on how long the liver stays in the pan. Everything after the browning is a two-minute finish, not a braise.
- Don't overcook itThin slices of calf's liver are done in roughly a minute a side over medium-high heat, and the five-minute simmer that follows is already generous. Liver cooked past faint pinkness turns grey and granular, which is exactly the texture this dish is trying to avoid.
- Slice thicknessThe recipe specifies only 'thin slices'. Ask the butcher to cut them, or firm the liver in the freezer for 15 minutes before slicing it yourself; it is slippery at room temperature.
- MembranePeel off the thin outer membrane and cut away any tubes before flouring. Left on, the membrane contracts in the pan and curls the slices so they cook unevenly.
- Tomato pureeIn older cookery books tomato puree often means sieved, lightly reduced tomato, closer to modern passata than to the thick concentrate sold in tubes. If using tube paste, cut it to about a third and make up the difference with water or stock.
- ShallotOne shallot in a tablespoon of butter softens in two or three minutes over moderate heat. Let it colour and it will be bitter under the liver; the flour dredge browns fast enough on its own.
- Pan and fatA tablespoon of butter in an 8-inch skillet is barely enough for half a pound of floured liver and will darken quickly. A teaspoon of neutral oil alongside the butter helps keep the butter from burning without changing the flavour much.
- YieldHalf a pound serves one as a main portion or two as a light plate. It does not reheat well; liver held warm keeps cooking.