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Liver Mush
I ONION, CHOPPED I CARROT, CHOPPED 3 TABLESPOONS FAT OR I CUP YELLOW CORN- OIL MEAL I GARLIC CLOVE, MINCED 1/2 POUND LIVER, BEEF OR PIG SALT AND CAYENNE Slowly fry onion in 1 tablespoon of fat, add garlic and fry, then add carrot, or green pepper or a celery stalk, or better still, all three chopped fine, and cooked for a couple of minutes. Add fried mixture to 1 quart salted boiling water, and when it bubbles fast sprinkle in the corn meal; stir and cook until it thickens. Then cover and let simmer while you prepare the liver. Dice it, dredge well with flour, and season with cayenne. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons fat in frying pan used before, and quickly brown liver without letting it cook through; sprinkle with salt and add 1/2 cup boiling water in order not to waste the flavors clinging to the pan, turn all into corn meal mixture, stir well, and cook another 5 minutes. Eat as is, or better, pour into a greased deep pan and let cool, then slice, dredge with flour and brown in fat or butter.
Hamburger or sausage meat, in fact, any leftover cold meat, may be substituted for liver, but will need to be cooked a little longer.
A one-pot cornmeal mush enriched with liver and aromatics, then optionally chilled, sliced and fried — the same two-stage treatment given to polenta or scrapple.
- The proportions1 cup yellow cornmeal to 1 quart salted water, 1/2 lb liver, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 garlic clove, 3 tablespoons fat total (1 for the vegetables, 2 for the liver). The optional green pepper and celery stalk are additions to the carrot, not replacements, if you follow the "better still, all three" line.
- Rain the meal inCornmeal added in a lump to fast-boiling water seizes immediately. Sprinkle it in a thin stream with the water at a hard boil and keep the spoon moving; once it thickens, drop the heat to a bare simmer or it will scorch on the bottom of the pan.
- Simmering time for the mushThe recipe implies only the few minutes it takes to prepare the liver. Coarse or stone-ground meal needs 20-30 minutes at a low simmer, covered and stirred occasionally, to lose its raw graininess. Fine degerminated cornmeal will be done in about 10.
- Liver, not overcookedBrowning without cooking through is deliberate — liver goes dry and chalky if overdone. The 5 minutes in the simmering mush finishes it; keep the dice small so the pieces reach the 160F recommended for beef and pork liver.
- Choosing the liverCalf's or pork liver is milder than mature beef liver, which can be aggressively strong. If using beef liver, soaking the diced pieces in milk for 30 minutes and patting dry before dredging tames it considerably.
- CayenneSeason with a light hand; an eighth teaspoon for this quantity is assertive.
- Setting and fryingFor the sliced version, use a loaf pan; the mush must be cold and firm, which means at least 4 hours and preferably overnight in the refrigerator. Cut 1/2-inch slices, flour them, and fry in hot fat without crowding so the crust sets before the slice softens.
- YieldAbout 5 cups of mush, serving four as a main dish or six as a side. Sliced and fried it makes roughly 8-10 slices.