It's been awhile since I've had L&O, but we're going tonight to one of only 2 places in the High Desert that serves it. Hal
@Hal Pollner One of my big favorites! My Mother when I was growing up got me interested in eating it early, knowing older kids wouldn't touch it. I loved it! But, she only bought Calves' liver, a fact my Dad required. He explained that Calves' liver is much "sweeter" and tastier than Beef liver, because the calves were slaughtered (supposed to be) before they began eating grass. Our Safeway has frozen Calves' Liver in 1-lb. packages. I've bought it several times, fried some up for myself, usually 2 or 3 slices, as my wife won't even look at it! On another note, the Tropicana Buffet here in Laughlin offers fried liver & onions, all you care to eat, among dozens of other things, one night a week. Frank EDIT: Another note: My paternal Grandma always slaughtered her own chickens for eating purposes, and made liver & onions as well as liver dumplings. The dumplings were wonderful, but chicken liver just didn't match calves'. Do you eat at home too?
Hal, that souds good. It's been along time since I've had liver and onions, too and the only place I can get them is at one of the chains restaurants along our interstates. I can't think of the name of the restaurant but they serve good food, great breakfasts in my opinion and liver and onions has always been good there. Hope you enjoy them.
Little did I know, as a child, that anyone would grow up to eat liver and onions voluntarily. About once a month, we were served liver and onions, yet I don't remember anyone actually eating the stuff.
@Ken Anderson Seems many have an aversion to eating liver. Why is that? Didn't know it then, but as far as nutrition goes, liver is nearly nutritionally-perfect, even has more Vitamin C than citrus fruit! Frank
I also learned to eat liver as a child, and I really like liver and onions; but I never eat it at a restaurant...... I want to cook it myself ! Liver, when overcooked strongly resembles eating old farm boots that have been fried with onions, and is just about as tough as that as well. My mom cooked the liver until it was just barely past being pink inside, and it was tender and delicious cooked that way. When my dad went deer hunting in the fall, the deer liver was the first thing that my mother cooked of that deer. The rest hung it in the barn and “aged” for a few days, and then they cut it up and we had venison to eat. Deer liver is even more tender than beef liver, and has a milder taste, but not as soft as chicken livers, which I do not really care for that much, even cooked with onions. I think that liver is one of those foods that the fresher you eat it, the better it tastes, and then it needs to be perfectly cooked and eaten right away. Adding green peppers along with the onions is good, too.
I had liver once, as a child. Something I'll never forget. I suspect my mother didn't know how to cook it. Probably overcooked it. It was mealy. Don't know how else to describe it. It has to be better than that, or no one would eat it. One day I may try it again. I'll put it on my bucket list. lol
@Nancy Hart One of the real love it/or hate it things! Seems no one goes mid-road on liver. On the downside to what I said about nutrition quality, liver is high in cholesterol...... Frank
Liver and onions are one of my favorite meals. I like chicken liver best. Pork liver is better than calf lier oor beef liver but stores around here don't carry pork liver. I never buy beef liver. I think pork liver is hard to find because it is the liver used to make liver cheese, braunschweiger, and liverwurst..
i like liver about once a year---when my kids were young they wouldnt eat it so i simmered it in gravy and they thought it was steak and loved it
I had fried liver years upon years ago, but not since. Definitely isn't one of my "specialty" plates. Know my wife doesn't like it either.
Years ago, our pastor (one of those old-time Pentecostal preachers who loved telling stories) told us about eating liver when he was growing up. He said that they ate it all of the time at their house, but the parents didn’t call it liver, they called it “steak”; so the kids all thought they were having something really special on the nights they all ate steak. At some point while he was growing up, he was invited to dinner at a friend’s house, and they announced they were having steak for dinner. He was shocked when he saw the food that these people called steak, and even thought it tasted awful compared with the “steak” they had at home. I guess he must have gone home and told his mother, because at some point, his folks explained to the kids that what they had thought was steak for all of those years was actually liver.
I tried for years to like liver since I thought it was god for you, but hated every minute of it. Everyone told me that I didn't like liver because I hadn't ever had it cooked right, but the liver they cooked was just as bad as everyone else's liver. Liver is always cooked with something to kill the bad taste, e.g., liver and onions, liver and peppers, liver marinated in soy sauce, liver cooked with bacon, etc. While other meats are cooked with things to complement the taste, you can also eat the meat plain. In other words, you may have pepper steak but you can also eat "steak". I don't know anyone who eats plain liver. Some people even soak the liver in milk to kill the liver taste. While the liver has nutrients as Frank said, it is second in organ meat in cholesterol content behind the brain, and, since it is the great "detoxifying" organ, if the liver can't break down a poison or toxin, it stores it, meaning it contains every poison it couldn't destroy--which means, in most cases, YOUR liver can't break it down either. Organic liver might be okay, but it would still taste just as bad. One of the reasons my wife married me was that I didn't like liver; she had been made to eat liver every week growing up until her father had a heart attack and was put on a low-cholesterol diet. She said that was the only upside to her father's attack.
Liver has always been a tasteful adventure for me, and I'm gratified to see so many replies on the subject, mostly favorable! Last night's L&O dinner was excellent! In addition to Beef liver, I always liked the Giblets when my mom cut up a chicken for frying. It was considered a treat if you could get the Gizzard, the Liver, and the Heart before the other family members got 'em! (Don't forge to pull the Wishbone!) Hal