Fancy for Liver and Onion Casserole

When I first got married my cooking repertoire was not large and it was something I worked on bit by bit and recipe by recipe.  As I found myself learning about ingredients as I used them and adding a bit of this and that as I went along I found out what actually worked for me and what tasted good.

One of the regular dishes that I made was liver and onion casserole.  I have to be in the mood to eat liver and that mood is upon me at the moment so I am going to have to search out some pigs liver during the week to satisfy this need.

I prepare it quite simply and probably in the old fashioned way but it is the way that I was taught and it has always held good for me. Sorry on this recipe per se I do not do measurements just do everything by whether it feels right.

Ingredients:

Pigs liver:

Depends on how many you are feeding. If there does not look as though there is going to be enough meat for how many you are feeding add some more.  Please bear in mind though that if you are feeding a crowd you must use a much larger casserole dish.  You do not need much to my mind of the liver, as I find it very rich, but men's appetites tend to be larger and in any event some people like more than others.  Liver is very good for you.

Milk for soaking

Bouquet Garni

Sprinkling of white pepper

Seasoned flour

Couple of small onions (if just for two of you) if using a larger Casserole dish use more onions or larger onions as so much of the flavour in the gravy is provided by the onions.

Water to fill casserole dish

The night before you cook the pigs liver you will need to wash your liver.  Clean it up, sometimes there are bits of fat or tubing showing so I always cut this as cleanly as I can, wash the liver and then soak it into a bowl of milk to draw out any gastric juices that might be lingering.  Doing the soaking of the liver takes away any bitter taste.  

The next day when preparing your meal, wash the liver, douse it in seasoned flour and then flash fry it in butter in a frying pan until the flour coating goes lightly golden.  Then remove from the pan and add to your casserole dish with a bouquet garni, a couple of small onions sliced in rings, and some white pepper.  I then then fill the casserole to the top either with water (or chicken stock) and let it cook for an hour or so.  Take out the bouquet garni and discard.  You may need to have to top the water up every so often.  I then add my gravy browning, cornflour, a little more pepper and some cranberry or redcurrant jelly to the mix.  You should not need anymore herbs because of the bouquet garni having flavoured the mixture during cooking and then pop back into the oven until the gravy is nice and thick.  I then serve this simply with some mashed potato, and a green vegetable such as brussels, cabbage, or broccoli.  Sprouting broccoli would be a good choice at the moment.

Good comfort food that not everybody is in to but it does a lot of good.

Wednesday is the next day I am in town so I shall try and source some then.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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