Method: Cooking Servings: 3 Preparation time: 40 min Cooking time: 35 min
Greetings, dear readers! Our today's conversation will be devoted to such an offal, amazing in its dietary and taste qualities, as beef liver. This body is a real source of nutrients. It contains magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, zinc, ascorbic acid, copper, as well as many other elements and vitamins needed in the daily human diet. The calorie content of the liver is only 127 kcal.
However, many novice housewives are faced with a problem: how to cook tasty and soft beef liver? After all, this meat requires a very delicate approach, taking into account many nuances. The slightest deviation from the recipe can lead to the fact that the finished dish will turn out dry, hard or bitter. However, do not despair, below we will take a closer look at a simple recipe for making juicy beef liver in sour cream, as well as all the subtleties of working with this product. So, let's begin!
Ingredients
Cooking process
Step 1
If you purchased an untreated organ, then, first of all, you will need to remove the gallbladder. It should be cut out, grabbing the flesh adjacent to it, which in this area has a greenish color. Next, you need to remove the film from the liver, otherwise the meat will become tough after heat treatment.
Step 2
Large vessels, veins, excess fat, bile ducts must also be removed so as not to spoil the taste and texture of the finished dish. The most convenient way to do this is to cut the meat with a sharp knife along the vessels and ducts.
Step 3
Cut the liver into small pieces and soak for half an hour in cold milk. Then dry the meat on a paper towel. This is necessary so that the finished liver has a delicate taste.
Step 4
We proceed to the direct process of preparing the dish. Cut the meat into strips about one and a half centimeters thick. We clean the onion, cut it into large rings, chop the carrots.
Step 5
Fry chopped onions and carrots in a pan with preheated olive oil. Fry them over medium heat until golden brown (about 10 minutes).
Step 6
Roll the chopped meat in flour, and then spread it on a preheated deep frying pan. Please note that the liver must be fried over high heat, for five minutes on each side.
Step 7
We spread the fried vegetables in a pan with meat, simmer for about fifteen minutes. Then add sour cream (you can use cream instead), continue to simmer our dish for another five to seven minutes. Please note that you need to salt the liver and add spices to it shortly before readiness, otherwise it may turn out dry and tough.
Step 8
Serve the finished dish with gravy, if desired, it can be decorated with parsley sprigs. The best side dish for this meat is mashed potatoes, but it also goes well with buckwheat, pasta, legumes or mushrooms.
And now let's talk about little tricks with which you can clean the liver without much difficulty. First, it must be thoroughly rinsed in cold running water, and then held for one minute in a container of hot water or simply scalded with boiling water. After these manipulations, only one or two cuts will be enough to separate the film without any extra effort. To prevent the meat from slipping out of your hands while peeling, dip your fingertips in salt. Salt will not only prevent slipping, but will also help remove excess bitterness. Then rinse the liver again. But in order to get a tender, juicy dish, one must be able not only to properly prepare this unique offal, but also to choose. Therefore, we dwell on some of the intricacies of buying a liver.
- It is best to buy products from trusted farms: the liver is a very delicate organ responsible for filtering the blood, so antibiotics and harmful chemicals often fed to animals by unscrupulous manufacturers can linger in it.
- It is recommended to buy chilled liver: freezing leads to the fact that in the future the product turns out to be hard and tasteless.
- Being fresh, this organ has a slightly sweet smell and a rich, uniform red-brown color (too dark or light color indicates that the meat of an old or sick animal is in front of you). The blood they secrete should be bright scarlet.
- In no case, do not buy a product if it has a sour or ammonia odor.
- The surface should be shiny, damp and smooth without any scratches, damage, blood clots, stains, windy areas or, moreover, plaque.
- Try to press the liver before buying: fresh offal is not sticky and elastic enough, the hole that appeared from your touch should disappear in two to three seconds.
- The roughness on the sections suggests that the liver was soaked in special solutions so that it seemed fresh longer.
Be sure to pay attention to the appearance of the bile ducts (they look like small holes), their edges should not differ in color or structure from the organ itself. From the organs of other animals, beef liver is distinguished by a white film, which is relatively easy to remove from a fresh product. Despite the fact that this organ contains many useful substances, it should not be eaten too often by people with high blood cholesterol. Now we know how to choose, clean and cook beef liver so that it is tasty and soft.
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One of the most useful cow by-products is the liver. In its composition, it contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, vitamins A, B and folic acid. But the amount of these vital trace elements depends only on how to cook beef liver. If it is incorrectly selected and thermally processed, then instead of a tasty, healthy and juicy dish, you can get tight pieces of a sinewy product.
You need to choose a liver very carefully so that the money spent on its purchase is not thrown away in vain. Poor-quality by-products should never be eaten. Therefore, always consider the following aspects:
Before you start cooking the liver, you need to properly process it. Remove the film first. In order to simplify this process, douse the liver with hot water, and then dip in cold. Next, you need to remove the veins and large vessels. You can soak the liver in a light solution of soda (1 teaspoon of soda per liter of water) or milk, depending on the recipe chosen, to make it softer. Always salt the liver after heat treatment.
Beef stroganoff with sour cream and beef liver
Stroganoff liver is an original Russian dish, which is probably why it is so popular and revered in Russia. You can often find beef stroganoff without tomato paste, although in the classic recipe it should be. Before you start cooking, you should clean the liver from the shell. Traditionally, this dish is served with potatoes, such as mashed potatoes or french fries.
Main Ingredients:
- liver - 400 gr.;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- tomato paste - 2 tbsp. l.;
- flour - 50 gr.;
- sour cream - 100 gr.;
- milk - 100 gr.;
- spices (salt, ground black pepper).
The washed and cleaned liver should be beaten off a little with a smooth hammer or rolling pin. Then cut into sticks and roll in flour. Chop the onion and carrot into strips and put them together with the liver in a hot frying pan. Bring to half readiness and pour milk, sour cream. After a few minutes, add tomato paste and spices. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes. If after this time the gravy is too liquid, you can add a tablespoon of flour and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Liver fritters
The easiest recipe for how to cook beef liver is, of course, pancakes. If everything is done correctly, then the pancakes will turn out juicy, soft and fragrant. They can be a wonderful addition to any side dish, but buckwheat porridge and fresh vegetables (cucumbers and tomatoes) are best. In addition, it is for pancakes that you can choose small pieces or trimmings from beef liver, which can significantly reduce the cost of an already budget dish.
For cooking you need:
- beef liver - 500 gr.;
- large onion - 1 pc.;
- eggs - 3 pcs.;
- flour - 3 tbsp. l.;
- mayonnaise - 3 tbsp. l.;
- salt pepper.
First, clean the liver from the veins, the outer shell and cut into small pieces. Then it should be twisted with a meat grinder twice along with chopped onions. Add three beaten eggs and mayonnaise to the resulting mass, mix thoroughly. Mayonnaise can be taken from the store or prepared in advance at home. Next, you need to gradually introduce the flour, avoiding the appearance of lumps. The dough should not be too liquid. Pancakes must be fried in hot sunflower oil on both sides. They are best served fresh and hot.
Classic liver pate
In modern cooking, you can find many recipes for meat, fish and even vegetable pate, but liver pate is still considered traditional. It has a delicate and slightly creamy taste. You can serve such a dish not only with sandwiches, but also as an independent snack.
In order to prepare the most delicious liver pate, you will need:
- liver - 600 gr.;
- oil - 250 gr.;
- medium-fat cream - half a glass;
- large onion - 2 pcs.;
- carrots - 2 pcs.;
- bay leaf, pepper, salt.
First you need to fry the liver, cut into medium pieces and pre-peeled, in sunflower oil. In another pan, bring the onion and carrots, chopped on a grater, to a soft state. Next, you should perform the most important step in the preparation of the pate - twist the finished ingredients with a meat grinder 2 times. Add soft butter and cream at room temperature to the resulting mass, mix thoroughly or beat with a blender until smooth. Pate for sandwiches is ready.
If you want to serve it as a snack, then you need to put an even layer of pate in the shape of a rectangle on parchment paper or foil and cool it in the refrigerator. Then apply slightly melted butter in an amount of 150 gr. with a knife on the pate and carefully wrap it in the form of a roll. Serve this appetizer cut into thin, small pieces.
Beef liver and garlic cake
Liver cake is a really popular dish that has been especially popular since Soviet times. Cooking it is very simple and fast, while you can make new fillings every time or serve without them at all.
Required Ingredients:
- beef liver - 600 gr.;
- skim milk - 300 ml;
- flour - 200 gr.;
- eggs - 3 pcs.;
- onions - 5 pcs.;
- carrots - 4 pcs.;
- mayonnaise - 300 gr.;
- garlic - half a head;
- salt pepper;
First of all, you need to prepare the cake layers, so chop the liver and one onion with a meat grinder. Whisk the eggs with the milk, sifted flour and add to the onion and liver mixture. Thoroughly mix the dough, it should be homogeneous, without lumps and have a fairly liquid consistency. Next, you need to fry thin pancakes for the cake in hot vegetable oil, there should be about 10 of them.
To prepare the sauce, mix mayonnaise and chopped garlic, and for the filling, fry finely chopped onions and carrots until soft. When all the ingredients have cooled, you can begin to collect the cake, for this, each liver cake needs to be greased with sauce and carrot-onion filling. Lubricate the last top cake with mayonnaise and decorate with grated boiled eggs and dill and parsley. The liver cake should be served chilled, but it must first be soaked properly, 40 minutes will be enough for this.
Salad with mushrooms and beef liver
The liver is great for making salads, because it combines wonderfully with a large number of products, but the combination with mushrooms is considered the classic and most successful.
To prepare the salad you will need:
- liver - 300 gr.;
- eggs - 3 pcs.;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- fresh champignons - 300 gr.;
- mayonnaise - 100 gr.
First of all, you need to boil the previously cleaned liver and chicken eggs. In the meantime, finely chopped onions must be marinated (per 100 ml of water, 1 tablespoon of salt, sugar and 2 tablespoons of vinegar). Shredded champignons fry in a small amount of sunflower oil.
When all the ingredients are ready, you need to cut the liver and eggs into strips, add the mushrooms and mix thoroughly. Dressing the salad with mayonnaise is better just before serving. Parsley is perfect as a decoration.
In general, there are a large number of good recipes and ways to cook beef liver and still keep its benefits, it goes well with many foods and can serve as a separate dish, addition to a side dish or a complete snack. Bon Appetit!
Beef liver, which is one of the most useful and delicious offal, is used very often in cooking. Moreover, this product is popular among athletes, as well as those who are prescribed dietary nutrition. You can cook beef liver as a main dish, and as an addition to side dishes, as a filling for pies and in many other options. Almost all the world's culinary schools in one form or another prepare the liver. It is fried, baked, stewed or simply boiled.
The liver contains many vitamins and useful trace elements. First of all, it is rich in copper and iron. Moreover, all components are absorbed very well, thanks to a balanced content.
With anemia and low hemoglobin, the liver is indicated for dietary nutrition.
How to choose beef liver
Externally, the liver should have a uniform composition and be smooth. The liver from animals of different ages differs externally and in structure. Calf's liver will be looser in appearance and structure. Darker indicates a solid age of the animal, is denser and cooks, respectively, longer.
By weight, the plate of the liver can be up to five kilograms.
Beef liver should be selected according to the following criteria:
- fresh liver has a slightly sweet smell;
- if the smell is sour, then the offal is of poor quality;
- the color should be uniform, the consistency is dense and elastic, the top surface is smooth.
Preparation for cooking
The product is prepared for sale as follows: large blood vessels are removed, the bile duct and bladder are removed.
Beef liver can be sold frozen or chilled. Frozen must be thawed before cooking.
Then a piece of liver is washed well and cleaned of films.
If the liver is dark, then soak it in milk for an hour. This will give the future dish tenderness and softness.
There is one more culinary secret: if you are planning to cook a fried dish, then cut the liver into large pieces, rub it with baking soda and leave it for half an hour. Well washed and fried. The product will fry well and taste better.
Tip: salt in the last stages of cooking, otherwise the liver will be tough
Ways to cook beef liver
Roasting
The method is the most popular and fastest. Additional ingredients for frying will require a minimum. Another plus is that in this way the dish is cooked quickly, so the nutrients are preserved in the maximum composition.
A basic simple recipe for fried liver: you will need half a kilogram of liver, a couple of onions and teaspoons of butter, one or two tablespoons of flour and vegetable oil. Spices and salt to your taste.
- Prepared and cut into medium-sized pieces, the liver should be rolled in flour.
- Then it is placed in a deep frying pan, oiled and heated. On top is laid out onion, chopped not finely, and butter.
- Close the lid and fry for three minutes.
- Remove the lid, add spices and salt, mix and fry over medium heat until tender (about ten minutes).
Serve with any greens. As a side dish, rice, pasta or mashed potatoes are best suited.
Extinguishing
When stewing, the liver absorbs spices and sauce. This gives the liver flavor and adds flavor.
The basic version of cooking stewed liver: you need to start cooking in the same way as when frying. After the liver is fried for three minutes, sauce or broth is added to the container.
An excellent option would be to use sour cream or heavy cream. Please note that sour cream must be mixed with water or broth. For the amount indicated in the recipe "Frying", you will need half a glass of sour cream and half a glass of liquid. Stew twenty minutes.
Boiling
Boiled liver is not often prepared. It is completely in vain, because it is quick and simple, and, most importantly, there are a lot of useful substances and few calories in the boiled liver.
Most often, the liver is boiled for later use in the preparation of salads or pates. But as an independent dish, the boiled version is simply wonderful.
Basic recipe: you will need 300 grams of liver, one medium-sized onion and several sprigs of parsley (if you don’t like the smell, then you don’t have to put it), a couple of garlic cloves, salt and allspice - three peas.
- The liver is washed, cut into four parts and poured with boiling water.
- The rest of the ingredients are added, except for salt, which should be put in five minutes.
- Cook until soft, skimming off the foam. Time - about 20 minutes.
- Then cool in broth. Take out, cut into slices. Eat with greens and lavash.
Cooking in a multicooker
The liver is cooked in this wonderful oven quickly and tasty. The main thing is that you do not need to control the process.
A universal recipe for this method does not even need to be offered. An option is chosen to your taste, the components are placed in the bowl, the stewing mode is set for forty minutes.
If you want the liver to be fried, then the liver and the necessary ingredients are put in a bowl greased with butter, the frying or baking mode is set for three to four minutes, then the liquid component is added - sauce, water, broth, sour cream, and stew again forty minutes.
Liver with white wine and cumin
Refinement is the characteristic of this dish.
You need: 500 grams of liver, a couple of cloves of garlic, 200 ml of wine (do not forget - white, dry), a medium onion, a couple of tablespoons of oil, cumin - a two-thirds teaspoon, croutons for breading. Salt and ground pepper (red) - to taste. Add spice cinnamon - on the tip of a knife.
- The liver is cut into sticks, rolled in crackers and fried in boiling oil for a couple of minutes.
- Add chopped onion and garlic, pepper and salt, fry for a couple more minutes.
- Add wine, diluted with water by half, put on a slow fire and simmer (twenty minutes).
- Serve with lettuce, which is finely chopped.
Pate
- Soak the liver in milk (2 hours in a cold place).
- Boil for half an hour with onions and carrots.
- Cool and chop together with vegetables in a blender, salt, pepper, add a spoonful of soft butter.
- The pate is ready.
Bon Appetit!
You know what I want to talk with you today about how to cook beef liver so that it is soft and juicy. Many hostesses are afraid of this dish, unfairly believing that only professional chefs can cook the liver quickly and tasty, and they think that, in principle, it is not easy to cook the liver so that it turns out juicy and soft.
I hasten to assure you of the opposite: tender beef liver in sour cream is a quick and easy dish that turns out to be very, very tasty. Of course, as in any recipe, there are some nuances and secrets on how to properly cook beef liver, but, believe me, even the most inexperienced and novice hostess can follow them.
How to properly cook beef liver so that it is soft, my mother taught me - it was she who told me a good recipe for cooking beef liver in sour cream.
At that time, I was just taking my first culinary steps, I had practically no experience in cooking liver. But this recipe for how delicious to cook beef liver in a pan with sour cream, I succeeded the first time, and it came out very tasty and appetizing.
Since then, I often cook this dish, and I am always satisfied with the result. I will be happy to share with you how tasty it is to cook beef liver with sour cream quickly and without much hassle. Let's go to the kitchen?
- 0.5 kg of beef liver;
- 1 small carrot;
- 1 large onion;
- 5-6 tablespoons of high-fat sour cream;
- 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying;
- salt, ground black pepper to taste.
How to cook beef liver so that it is soft and juicy:
We wash the liver with cold water, remove films, vessels, pieces of fat (if any).
Cut the liver into pieces 7-10 mm thick. The size of the piece is such that there are about 2-3 per serving. The shape of the portioned liver pieces depends on the shape of the cut piece, so they will be slightly irregular in shape and may differ slightly from each other.
Place the chopped pieces of the liver in a spacious bowl and pour over them with boiling water (so that all the pieces are covered with water). We stand like this for about 5 minutes. This procedure will help the liver remain soft and juicy.
We clean the onions and carrots. Cut the onion into half rings, and rub the carrots on a coarse grater.
How much to cook beef liver so that it is soft:
Heat up a frying pan with half the vegetable oil. We spread the liver and fry over a fairly high heat from 2 sides until a golden crust appears. Then simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat with a lid on. At the end, add salt and pepper.
In parallel, in another pan in vegetable oil, pass the onion and carrots, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine sour cream with 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water.
And pour the sautéed vegetables with this sour cream. Add salt and pepper. We mix.
We put the pan with sour cream and vegetable sauce on the fire, bring to a boil and add the liver. Turn the liver over in the sauce so that the pieces are completely covered.
We put on the smallest fire and simmer the beef liver in sour cream for another 5 minutes.
Such a beef liver stewed in sour cream is good on its own, and in company with some kind of side dish (porridge, potatoes), and with vegetable salad.
Friends, now you know how to cook beef liver so that it is soft and juicy. I hope my recipe with step-by-step photos will give you confidence in the kitchen, and you will certainly try to cook beef liver in sour cream for your loved ones. Or maybe you have your own interesting way how to cook beef liver with gravy deliciously? Write in the comments to the recipe, or in the 8 Lozhek.ru group on the VKontakte social network.
If you want a thicker sauce, you can roll the pieces of liver in flour before frying. Or just add 1 teaspoon of flour to sour cream before diluting it with boiling water. The main thing is to mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps.
Animal liver is a valuable product in our diet due to the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids it contains, essential for health, beauty and longevity. However, we appreciate the liver not only as an important element of nutrition, but also as an exquisite delicacy with a bright and original taste - if, of course, the liver is cooked correctly, in accordance with the recommendations of experienced chefs. Unfortunately, many housewives hesitate to cook the liver, worrying about a possible failure, since this delicate meat can turn out to be slightly bitter, dry and tough due to the presence of sinewy films. Let's talk about how to cook an incredibly tasty, juicy, soft and tender liver at home.
The subtleties of the right choice
The main secret of making a delicious liver is to choose a quality fresh product. A good liver is elastic, soft, moist, shiny, without dried spots and scratches, with a pleasant and slightly sweet aroma. If you feel a sour smell, you should not buy the liver, because in this case it most likely has a “venerable” age, which can also be recognized by the color of the meat - the older it is, the darker the liver. Blood clots, blood vessels and greenish spots are unacceptable on the surface of the meat, which are a sign of damage to the gallbladder - in this case, the liver will be very bitter.
Quality can be distinguished by brown color with a burgundy tint, while light and yellowish meat indicates that the bird is sick. Fresh beef liver has the color of a cherry, and if it is lightly pierced with a knife or a knitting needle, scarlet blood will appear. A good calf's liver is distinguished by a rich color - from brown to red, but most importantly - that there is no gray coating, a traitorous sign of stale meat. When buying a frozen liver, make sure that there are no ice blocks on its surface - it should be covered with a thin ice crust, and if the color of the meat has turned orange, then the liver is frozen. It is difficult to immediately understand the intricacies of the choice, but this stage is very important, because the taste and usefulness of the dish depends on the freshness of the meat.
Secrets of preparing the liver for heat treatment
How to properly cook the liver (beef, pork, chicken or turkey) so that it is very tender, soft, juicy and appetizing? Proper preparation of meat for frying or stewing is very important, since the liver needs to be treated with care.
Remove all vessels, veins from the liver and remove the film from the beef liver, picking it up with the tip of a knife and pulling it slightly with your fingers, without making sudden movements. If you did everything right, the film will come off easily and quickly, without tearing, especially if you first put the meat in warm water for two minutes. There is another secret to preparing tender beef liver - you should cut it into pieces, sprinkle with a little soda, leave for about an hour, and then rinse with water. This liver will melt in your mouth!
The liver (especially pork) is often bitter, but you can get rid of this bitterness if, after cleaning the meat from the veins and film, soak it in cold cow's milk, whey or salt water for several hours. For piquancy, a little sugar can be added to the liquid, while the meat can be soaked as a whole piece or cut into pieces. Milk works wonders with the liver, and even the roughest and toughest meat acquires velvety softness and tenderness. If you are short on time, instead of soaking, you can boil the liver in lightly salted water for a few minutes. Many gourmets prefer to marinate the liver in the cold for six hours, rubbing it with garlic and salt.
The liver, beaten off with a hammer, becomes even softer and more tender, but do not forget to place it in a plastic bag so that it does not spread.
Roast, cook, stew and bake
The liver is not only fried, stewed, boiled and baked, but also steaks, pates, salads, and pancakes are made from it. Fried liver is considered the most delicious, but some housewives do not dare to cook it, being afraid not to overcook it - who wants to chew dry and tasteless meat? We hasten to please you - frying the liver is easy and simple, you just need skill!
How to cook liver in a pan without additional ingredients? Aged in soda and well-washed meat should be rolled a little in flour or sesame seeds and fried in hot oil for 3-5 minutes, but no more, so as not to overdry the meat. Let it sweat a little under the lid, stew in its own juice and reach readiness under the influence of internal temperature. Properly fried liver turns out amazingly airy and juicy, and to also cook tougher pork liver, fry it with carrots and onions, and then simmer in a little water with sugar - this will soften its taste and make it more tender. Salting the liver is allowed only at the end of frying, otherwise it will harden, and even a large amount of carrots will not save it.
The liver can be stewed with milk, cognac, spices (nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, curry, cloves), sour cream and tomato paste. If you decide to stew pork liver, preliminary frying is required, otherwise you will not be able to get rid of the annoying bitterness.
Before baking in the oven, it is better to fry the liver cut into pieces, and then place in the oven for 8 minutes. Readiness is checked with a knife - no blood or bloody liquid is released from the finished liver. The liver is usually baked in foil for no more than 30 minutes, while do not forget to put a small piece of lard with a slice of liver - for softness and juiciness. Remember the main rule of cooking the liver: busting with the duration of heat treatment turns tender meat into an indigestible and hard sole.
Knowing how tasty liver can be cooked, it will not be difficult for you to create a festive lunch or a quick dinner. This truly royal delicacy can be served with potatoes, vegetables, cereals, pasta, lettuce and pickled onions. Properly cooked liver turns into a culinary and aesthetic delight that you want to cook again and again, adding unusual spices and ingredients. You can find even more on the Eat at Home website!
