Liver
3 peppercorns 2 whole cloves Calf's or lamb's liver 1 carrot 1 onion 1 stalk celery Salt pork 1 bay leaf 2 cups stock or water Skewer, tie in shape and lard the liver. Cut the vegetables into small cubes; put them in a baking pan with the seasonings and bits left from the lardoons of salt pork; lay the liver on top; pour over all two cups of stock or water; cover closely and bake slowly for two hours, basting occasionally and uncovering the last fifteen minutes. Remove the liver to a platter; surround it with the vegetables; then make a brown sauce, using the strained liquor, and pour over all.
This is a whole braised liver, larded with salt pork and cooked on a bed of aromatics — a preparation that has almost vanished in favour of quick-seared slices. A few notes make it workable in a modern kitchen.
- The hinge: don't overcook itTwo hours at a slow oven will take a whole lobe well past done and leave it grainy and dry. Braise until the centre reaches about 160F on an instant-read thermometer, which for a 1.5-2 lb calf's liver is closer to 50-70 minutes; check early and often.
- "Bake slowly"Period cookbooks generally gloss a slow oven as somewhere around 300-325F, though this recipe gives no temperature of its own. Covered closely means a tight lid or foil crimped to the pan rim, so the liver steams as much as it roasts.
- LardingLardoons are batons of salt pork threaded through the meat with a larding needle, which liver badly needs since it has no internal fat. Without a needle, cut deep slits with a thin knife and push the strips in, or drape and tie sheets of pork fat or bacon over the top.
- The size of the liverBuy calf's liver in one piece from a butcher — supermarket liver is nearly always pre-sliced and useless here. Lamb's liver is smaller, stronger in flavour, and will cook faster still.
- Salt porkUnsmoked salt pork or fatback is what is meant. Rinse it if heavily cured, and taste before adding any salt to the braise; the pork and the stock will do most of the seasoning.
- The brown sauceStrain and degrease the braising liquor, then thicken it with a brown roux — roughly two tablespoons each butter and flour cooked to the colour of a hazelnut, whisked into the hot liquid. Two cups of stock reduces to a modest amount, so expect a thin gravy rather than a coating sauce.
- Uncovering at the endThe last fifteen minutes open is meant to colour the surface. If the liver is already at temperature, skip it rather than trading colour for texture.
- YieldThe recipe gives none; a 2 lb liver with its vegetables should serve about six. Slice it across the lobe, fairly thin, and serve hot -- braised liver is unpleasant lukewarm.
Liver appears in nearly every general cookbook of the early twentieth century, treated as a cheap, nutritious cut that demands technique, since its leanness punishes careless handling. Larding -- threading strips of pork fat through lean meat -- was a standard skill, and larding needles were common kitchen equipment; the practice fell out of use as cooks moved toward quicker methods and butchers began selling liver ready-sliced. The braise itself follows the classic French pattern: a mirepoix of carrot, onion and celery, a bay leaf and whole spices, a little stock, and a tight lid, with the strained liquor turned into sauce at the end.