Broiled Liver
Cut the liver into slices half an inch thick and let stand in boiling water for five minutes. Drain, wipe and remove all skin, veins and membranes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; place in a greased wire broiler and broil from five to eight minutes. Remove to a hot platter; spread with butter and sprinkle with pepper and salt.
A brisk, plain treatment of liver from the era of the coal range and the hinged wire broiler. Two things in it are worth rethinking: the five-minute scald and the total cooking time.
- What kind of liverMrs. Fryer does not specify, but a half-inch slice broiled in five to eight minutes points to calf's or beef liver, the two commonly sold at the period. Calf's liver is milder and more tender; beef liver is cheaper and stronger. Lamb liver also works and cooks faster.
- The scaldStanding the slices in boiling water for five minutes firms the surface and tames the strong flavor of beef liver. It also draws out juices and can leave the meat grainy. Modern practice usually skips it, or soaks the slices in milk for 20 to 30 minutes instead, then dries them well.
- Trim before, not afterIt is easier to peel the outer membrane and cut out the tough tubes while the liver is raw and cold. Pull the membrane from one edge with a paper towel for grip; a firm slice releases it cleanly.
- "Greased wire broiler"This is a hinged two-sided gridiron held over the coals or the open fire of a range, not an oven compartment. Use a hot, well-oiled cast-iron grill pan or an outdoor grill, or a preheated oven broiler on a greased rack set 3 to 4 inches from the element.
- TimingFive to eight minutes total for half-inch slices, meaning roughly two and a half to four minutes a side over high heat. Liver dries out quickly once it passes medium; pull it while the center is still faintly rosy.
- Dry the slicesAfter the scald or a milk soak, wipe the liver completely dry. Wet meat steams rather than browns, and the crust is most of the pleasure here.
- The butter finishThe liver is spread with butter as it comes off the fire, and that is the whole sauce. A squeeze of lemon, or butter melted with chopped parsley, suits it; bacon or fried onions were common companions.
- YieldFigure 4 to 6 ounces of liver per person, so about 1 to 1 1/2 lb serves four.
Liver was cheap, sold fresh from the butcher, and appears in many American household manuals of the early twentieth century, usually fried with bacon or broiled as here. A preliminary scald in boiling water was a common instruction of the period, recommended both to moderate the flavor and to make the membranes easier to strip; it later dropped out of cookbooks. Organ meats were also promoted on nutritional grounds in these decades, and liver's high iron and vitamin A content was confirmed by later analysis. Loose-leaf cook books like this one were sold as binders so a housekeeper could add and rearrange pages, and the terse style here -- a few lines, no yield, no temperature -- assumes a cook who already knows her range.