An Offaly Nice Recipe

My iron levels have been really very low recently

After a raft of blood tests and various poking around, my Doctor looked at me seriously and said my Vegetarian Diet would have to addressed as it wasn't fufilling all my nutritional needs! It took some time to convince him that I was indeed a confirmed Omnivore and meat- especially red meat- was featured on my plate at least once a day. Off I toddled with some strong iron supliments and a promise to eat lots of green leafy vegetables, offal and plenty red meat until my next appointment

Luckily for me, I happen to love some of the icky offally bits of meat, so Liver was the first dish that popped into mind. Cooked properly, this is a lovely cut of meat- but cooked poorly and you may as well chew on a mouthful of sawdust. I love to pair it with a tasty tomato and onion sauce with lots of bacon in it. Why? Because let's face it, everything tastes better with bacon :)


I chose Calves Liver because it was easily available and the right size for my dish. Good quality Liver should be clean, shiny and glossy looking with no discoloured bits and pieces

This may not look very pretty, but trust me, it's delicious, cheap, nutritious and actually very on trend at the moment. Just be brave enough to give it a try



Liver with Tomato, Onion and Bacon

1 nice big Liver
Lactose free Milk for soaking
1 cup gluten free Flour
Salt and Pepper

4 Tomatoes
4 rashers Bacon
1 nice big Onion
1/2 glass White Wine or Stock
2 cloves Garlic
2 Bay leaves


Before Starting:

I always soak liver in milk with a good pinch of salt in it. I find it removes some of the blood, any strong smell, and sort of rounds out the overall taste of the finished dish. You can use water with a splash of lemon juice instead if you like, but I do think milk gives a nicer taste.The liver can soak overnight or for just a couple of hours if you're in a rush

Chop the veggies and bacon into nice little pieces to turn into a sauce

Cook off the onion, garlic and bacon until lightly browned

Add in the tomatoes, bay leaves and wine then simmer away into a lovely sweet sauce while you deal with the liver. Tomatoes vary so much over the year, so if the sauce needs tweaking with sweetness and acidity add a teaspoon each of sugar and red wine vinegar

See how the liver has lightend up? Pat it dry and place on a cutting board

Next step is to remove the clear membrane that covers the liver. This membrane will just peel off with your fingers and shouldn't be too tricky. It's kinda like the silver skin that you trim off a fillet- you can leave it on but it will shrink and toughen as it cooks.

Nice and tidy!

Slice into nice thin slices so they cook quickly and evenly

Dust the pieces in the seasoned flour

Then quickly fry in a hot pan just to seal without overcooking

See, nice brown and crusty on the outside...

But nice and pink still on the inside...
They look a little raw, but they will continue to cook through as they sit in the hot sauce

Mix the liver with the sauce to heat through if you like, or just serve the slices on a bed of creamy mash with plenty Tomato Baconey Sauce

So Dear Readers, what do you think of offal and can we make a Liver Lover out of you?