Many people do not like liver dishes, as they often turn out tough. It's all about the method of preparation. To keep the liver soft and tender, you need to follow only a few rules. When prepared correctly, you can make a great lunch or dinner out of it.
Soft liver recipe
If you do not know how to cook soft liver, then use the following recipe. This dish is prepared simply and quickly, and will delight your whole family with its taste. The main secret is to properly process the liver and not overheat it. You will learn how to cook beef liver from the recipe.
You will need:
- 1 kg pork or beef liver
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 head of garlic
- Vegetable oil
Cooking method:
- If necessary, defrost the liver and drain off any excess water so that the liver is fried rather than stewed.
- Wash the liver under water, remove the film and bile ducts. This is one of the principles of how to make the liver soft. After cleaning, cut the liver into slices. If the film is difficult to remove, then immerse the liver in hot water for about a minute. It is important to completely remove the film as it becomes hard during frying.
- In addition to the film, it is important to remove the bile ducts, since they can not only impart rigidity, but also spoil the taste of the liver, making it bitter.
- If you want to achieve special tenderness of the finished liver, then soak it in milk for a couple of hours before frying. The milk should be cold. The livers of older animals need to be soaked longer.
- The darker the color of the liver, the older the animal was, which means the liver will be tougher. The liver of young animals will be tender without soaking in milk.
- Before placing the liver slices in the frying pan, roll them in flour. Fry in oil, but not for very long. Two minutes is enough for frying, otherwise the liver will become tough.
- One of the secrets to cooking soft liver is using a hot frying pan. This way the slices will quickly acquire a golden color, and they will not need to be overheated.
- After frying, the pieces of liver should be placed in a deep pan, pour sour cream and add garlic. Pour a glass of water into it, pepper and salt to taste. The liver should be simmered in sour cream for 15-20 minutes, but no more, otherwise it will become hard and tasteless. The dish can be served with the resulting sauce and herbs - parsley or dill.
Among other offal products, liver is the most popular. This is not surprising, because dishes with it turn out very tasty, and they can be prepared quite quickly and easily. At a fairly budget price, the liver is also good for a holiday table. And the child won’t have to think about it too much - many recipes are quite universal and suitable for a child. In addition, due to the high content of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, it has an extremely beneficial effect on the body of children and adults.
How to quickly cook something delicious? A few secrets
There are many ways to make dishes from this offal. The liver is baked, stewed, fried and boiled; pates, salads, pies and roasts are made from it. You can combine it with a vegetable, buckwheat or rice side dish, as well as some dried fruits, berries and honey. The main secret of successful taste is the ability to get rid of a special smell and bitterness. You can deal with them by soaking the liver in marinade or milk, as well as cooking it with a variety of spices and sauces. Another condition for a good result is the freshness and quality of the product. If you choose a good, unfrozen liver, the dish will be excellent without much effort or hassle - the taste of such a product is excellent in itself. High-quality meat is distinguished by an even and bright color, a smooth surface and the absence of dry areas, its smell is slightly sweet. If it smells sour, the product may not be fresh. It's not worth buying.
What to cook from beef liver? Option one: cutlets
Take half a kilogram of liver, one onion, one egg, a couple of tablespoons of flour, vegetable oil, salt and pepper. Remove the films from the offal, cut into large pieces and pass through a meat grinder along with the peeled onion. Season with spices, stir in the pre-beaten egg and add flour. Stir and fry on both sides in hot oil, placing the cutlets with a spoon. This method is suitable for both a novice cook who is thinking about what to cook from beef liver for the first time, and experienced housewives who love proven recipes that do not require a lot of time. The finished dish should be served with sour cream.
This dish can be considered a variation of cutlets, but it still has a rather distinctive taste. You will need a kilogram of liver, two hundred grams of wheat bread, seven tablespoons of butter, spices and vegetable oil for frying. Rinse and clean the offal from films, grind in a meat grinder, add slightly stale crushed bread and butter, spices, mix everything thoroughly. Form small flat cakes and fry them in a hot frying pan with vegetable oil until golden brown on both sides. Before serving, you can pour melted butter over the finished pancakes. With this and the previous recipes in your piggy bank, you don’t have to think about how and what to cook from beef liver when you want to make a tasty and simple dish.
Housewives often pay little attention to by-products, although they occupy no less important place in a healthy diet than the usual meat. Beef liver dishes, if the main component is properly processed, can find admirers; even children will agree to eat them. How to prepare this product full of vitamins so that it becomes tasty?
How to cook beef liver
The number of dishes that are available with this offal is large: casseroles, roasts, cutlets, even a whole cake. The main problems stopping housewives are its harshness and obvious bitterness. Professionals will tell you how to cook beef liver from the first to the last stage. Some tips:
- Got a very tough piece of liver? Pour milk for half an hour, after cutting into pieces.
- Are you afraid of bitterness? Eliminate vessels and veins, be sure to remove the film.
- How long should you cook beef liver to make it soft and tender? Small pieces will take 10 minutes to cook, while a whole offal will take 35-40 minutes.
Beef liver recipes
Among the ideas proposed below, you can choose ones that are suitable for your diet - after all, the calorie content of a hundred-gram piece of raw beef liver does not exceed 127 kcal. For those who are not particularly concerned about their figure, professionals are ready to tell you how to prepare beef liver so that the final dish can compete with that of a restaurant. Step-by-step instructions, supplemented with photos, will help you understand all the nuances of this process.
Pate
A store-bought product with an unknown composition is instantly inferior to a home-made product, especially when it comes to boiled beef liver pate. This is a simple, healthy dish, the creation process of which is easy to master. Once you try the result, you will no longer go near factory jars. Make sure that you have fresh offal in front of you, do not forget that it is advisable to soak it before work, and get started!
Ingredients:
- liver – 470 g;
- cream 15% – 150 ml;
- a bunch of fresh basil;
- garlic cloves – 2 pcs.;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Chop the onion and fry.
- Boil the liver pieces. Combine with onion.
- Pour in cream, simmer until soft.
- Cool, combine with grated garlic, basil, and salt. Grind into a paste using an immersion blender.
Pancakes
In taste and satiety, the dish is more reminiscent of potato pancakes. No sweetness (sugar), increased nutritional value. These beef liver pancakes can even become pancakes if you increase the amount of milk and make the overall consistency a little thinner. The set of spices is selected individually - you can get by with classic salt and black pepper.
Ingredients:
- liver – 650 g;
- milk – half a glass;
- eggs 1 cat. - 2 pcs.;
- flour – 110 g;
- spices – 1 tsp;
- oil - for frying.
Cooking method:
- Grind the liver pieces into a porridge.
- Combine with the rest of the ingredients and knead into a thick dough.
- Place a spoon in a hot frying pan with butter and fry until crispy on both sides.
In sour cream
Stewing offal under cream and similar products is a simple and quick way to prepare them tasty, healthy and not too high in calories. This recipe for beef liver in sour cream, even if there is alcohol among the ingredients of the dish, is considered dietary. If you increase the simmering time, even a child can eat this - the alcohol will evaporate, leaving only the taste of wine.
Ingredients:
- beef liver – 600 g;
- purple onion;
- sour cream – 3 tbsp. l.;
- a bunch of parsley;
- dry white wine – 1/3 cup;
- flour - 3 tbsp. l.;
- butter for frying;
- salt, ground pepper.
Cooking method:
- Marinate pieces of liver with sour cream, wine and parsley (an hour and a half in the cold).
- Salt, pepper, sprinkle with flour. Fry with chopped onion in butter until crusty.
- Pour in the sauce (wine and sour cream), simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Cutlets
With salad or cereal, with pasta or grilled vegetables - these aromatic, juicy cutlets are good in any setting. According to the classic recipe, this product needs to be fried, and after the crust appears, simmer under the lid for half an hour. However, if you are focused on losing weight, it is better to make beef liver cutlets in the oven or steamed. It will take a little more time, but the calorie and fat content will decrease.
Ingredients:
- round rice - 3 tbsp. l.;
- liver – 250 g;
- bulb;
- egg (highest category);
- flour - 3 tbsp. l.;
- frying oil;
- tomato paste – 100 g;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Cook the rice (you can add spices).
- Chop the liver and add salt. Add egg, rice, flour, chopped onion. Mix.
- Form cutlets. If they spread, add flour.
- Fry for 4 minutes on each side.
- Pour in tomato paste and half a glass of water. Simmer for half an hour until done.
In a slow cooker
Beautiful, fast, with a minimum set of products and actions on the part of the housewife - all this is about the dish that you can get if you learn how to cook beef liver in a slow cooker. The brand of the device does not matter: it will be equally delicious with Redmond, Polaris, and representatives of other brands. If you have the “stewing” and “frying” programs, other aspects become insignificant.
Ingredients:
- liver – 500 g;
- apples – 2 pcs.;
- butter – 70 g;
- bulb;
- breadcrumbs - 2 tbsp. l.;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Sprinkle pieces of peeled liver with breadcrumbs. They need to be fried in the same mode for 10 minutes with the addition of butter.
- At the end of the program, add onion rings and thin slices of apples. While simmering, cook for another 20 minutes.
- Add salt and let stand covered.
Stewed
An amazing Italian dish based on offal can be made if you use dry red wine and olive oil. If you don't like alcohol, take apple cider vinegar. It is recommended to take red onion to reduce the sharpness. This recipe for stewed beef liver is perfect for a holiday table, because the final dish looks like it came straight from the pages of a high-end restaurant menu.
Ingredients:
- beef liver – 550 g;
- red wine – 100 ml;
- purple onion – 500 g;
- olive oil – 5 tbsp. l.;
- salt;
- balsamic cream (vinegar boiled to syrup).
Cooking method:
- Shredded onion half rings should be simmered for half an hour at a very low burner power. Don't let them burn.
- Enter wine.
- When the alcohol has evaporated, add the chopped liver. Simmer for 10-12 minutes.
- Before serving, add salt and balsamic cream.
How to fry beef liver
The basic scheme for preparing this offal on the stove is what professionals advise starting with when trying to fry if you have no experience at all. If the fried beef liver turns out well according to this recipe, you can try adding vegetables, mushrooms, any boiled cereals or pasta, and playing with spices. If desired, after frying, the dish can be poured with sauce/broth and simmered.
Ingredients:
- beef liver – 700 g;
- bulb onions;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Heat the frying pan. Sauté the chopped onion.
- Sprinkle in the offal pieces rolled in flour. At maximum heat, fry for 3-4 minutes on each side.
- When a uniform crust appears everywhere, add salt and cover with a lid. Turn off the stove. Let it take 8-10 minutes.
Beef Stroganoff
The traditional recipe for this hot second called for young soft veal, but beef liver Stroganoff style with gravy looks no worse, and its taste is excellent. As a side dish, it is recommended to boil the potatoes or cut them into cubes and fry them with a small amount of butter. Be sure to serve with chopped herbs.
Ingredients:
- beef liver – 600 g;
- onions – 2 pcs.;
- flour – 2 tbsp. l. with a slide;
- sour cream - a glass;
- vegetable oil;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Mix bulk products.
- Peel and cut the liver.
- Roll in salted flour, fry for 10 minutes.
- Add chopped onion, after a minute pour in 1.5 cups of boiled water.
- After a quarter of an hour, add sour cream, cook over low heat for 6-7 minutes.
Goulash
The aromatic and appetizing Hungarian dish quickly gained popularity around the world, because goulash is tasty and healthy. If you modify the classic recipe, it is also low-calorie. Beef liver goulash is an excellent option for a diet menu: the vegetable component gives the offal a unique taste, and sour cream and tomato paste form a delicate gravy.
Ingredients:
- liver – 700 g;
- carrot;
- bell pepper;
- milk - a glass;
- starch - half a glass;
- salt;
- tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.;
- vegetable oil.
Cooking method:
- Cut the washed, peeled and milk-soaked liver.
- Chop the vegetables (with onions) equally. Fry for 5-6 minutes in oil.
- Add beef liver sprinkled with starch, cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add half a glass of water, sour cream, tomato paste. Simmer for 25 minutes.
Gravy
The dish is convenient to prepare when you need to supplement an “empty” side dish with something - buckwheat, rice, pasta. Tender and juicy beef liver gravy can be frozen in portions and stored for up to a month. Then it is used when there is a lack of time to prepare a complex dinner. Even in the photo, the dish, complemented with gravy, looks beautiful, appetizing, and appropriate for an everyday table.
Ingredients:
- beef liver – 600 g;
- carrot;
- tomatoes – 2 pcs.;
- garlic cloves – 3 pcs.;
- Sweet pepper;
- starch - 4 tbsp. l.
- oil;
- ground white pepper.
Cooking method:
- Grind the peeled liver with a food processor and mix with grated garlic. Fry for 4-5 minutes.
- Add blanched chopped tomatoes, grated carrots, chopped pepper. Cook for 10-12 minutes.
- Pour in a glass of water, add starch, throw in a couple of grams of ground pepper. Remove from heat when the gravy thickens.
Liver cake
According to the principle of operation, this recipe is similar to the one indicated for pancakes, only the dough has a liquid consistency. Baked cakes must be soaked so that they remain soft. The classic recipe for beef liver cake for this purpose involves using only sour cream, but professionals advise adding a little vegetable frying here.
Ingredients:
- liver – 700 g;
- eggs – 2 pcs.;
- carrots – 2 pcs.;
- milk – 2 glasses;
- salt;
- frying oil;
- sour cream – 250 g.
Cooking method:
- Make a batter from blender-ground liver, eggs, milk and salt.
- Heat a frying pan with oil. Pour in a ladleful of “batter” to create a thick crust. Bake each for a minute and a half.
- Grate the onion and carrots and fry separately. Combine with sour cream - this will be a layer.
- Making a cake like in the culinary photos is simple: put the cake layer on top and add a layer on top. Then again the cake layer and again the layer. Let sit overnight before serving.
In the oven
Connoisseurs of simple dietary recipes that do not lack a pleasant taste may like tender liver chops under a cheese-apple cap with sour cream filling. Beef liver dishes in the oven frighten housewives because the offal can become tough, but adding sauce (or even vegetable broth) will prevent this from happening. For added security, cover the baking sheet with foil to retain moisture.
Ingredients:
- liver – 600 g;
- apple;
- cheese – 250 g;
- sour cream – 100 g;
- greenery;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Remove the film from the liver and cut off a large piece. Add salt.
- Place on a baking sheet, cover with coarsely grated apple, similar to shredded cheese.
- Pour in sour cream, sprinkle with herbs. Bake for half an hour at 180 degrees.
For a couple
If you have problems with the digestive tract or simply want to lose weight, doctors advise including dietary dishes made from beef liver in your diet. Most of them are prepared using a double boiler: this way the offal remains soft, juicy, and does not acquire excess fat content. An excellent option for this dish is steamed cutlets, which can be served with stewed vegetables.
Ingredients:
- beef liver – 550 g;
- young zucchini – 200 g;
- thin oat flakes – 3 tbsp. l.;
- garlic clove;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Grate the peeled zucchini and squeeze with your hands.
- Combine with chopped liver in a blender. Add salt.
- Add oatmeal and grated garlic.
- Form cutlets and cook in a double boiler for half an hour.
Video
It's no secret that sometimes cooked beef liver sometimes turns out “dry” or tastes bitter after frying. How to cook beef liver that is tasty and soft so that everyone will like it, and not waste a valuable product, I will tell you about all this today. For myself, I found the right solution, although I tried many recipes. I can proudly say that this is the most successful method I have ever tried.
I know and have heard from many housewives that they do not like to cook any liver, precisely for the reason that they cannot cook it tasty, most often it turns out tough. But this product is useful, it contains a lot of B vitamins, it is a cure for many diseases and tasty healthy food. Unfortunately, you cannot eat liver in large quantities, but you can eat it in moderation if it is well prepared.
My friends, here you brought it from the store. Many housewives will be interested in learning how to cook it deliciously and simply.
The most delicious fried beef liver recipe
Ingredients required:
- beef liver - 0.6 kg;
- chicken egg - 1 piece;
- sugar and salt - a level teaspoon of each;
- garlic - a few cloves;
- soda - 1/2 teaspoon;
- onions - 1 piece;
- vegetable oil - for frying;
- corn flour - for coating.
- I wash the liver thoroughly, carefully remove the veins and films with my hands, and cut them into large plates. In order for the films to be removed well, I dip my fingers in salt, then they do not slip.
- I make a marinade for the liver: beat an egg into a bowl, add salt, sugar, soda, crushed garlic, and beat the mixture thoroughly.
- I pour the prepared marinade over the pieces of liver and marinate for three hours. Ideally, it is better to keep the product in the refrigerator to marinate until the morning.
- I peel the onion, cut it into two halves, then cut it into half rings, fry it in vegetable oil, and remove it to a dish.
- I bread each piece of liver in corn flour and transfer it to a heated frying pan where I fried the onions. I use sunflower oil to a minimum, adding it as needed. Fry each side of the piece for 2 minutes until browned, turn over.
- As soon as the liver is browned, I put the fried onion on it, mix everything, close the lid, and simmer for another 4 minutes. Prepared in this way, each piece of liver turns out very tasty and soft. Try it, you will like it. Bon appetit!
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 value liver not only as an important nutritional element, but also as an exquisite delicacy, distinguished by its bright and original taste - if, of course, the liver is prepared correctly, in accordance with the recommendations of experienced chefs. Unfortunately, many housewives do not dare to cook liver, worrying about possible failure, since this delicate meat can turn out slightly bitter, dry and tough due to the presence of stringy films. Let's talk about how to cook incredibly tasty, juicy, soft and tender liver at home.
Subtleties of the right choice
The main secret to preparing delicious liver is that you need to choose a high-quality fresh product. A good liver is elastic, soft, moist, shiny, without dried spots or scratches, with a pleasant and slightly sweet aroma. If you feel a sour smell, you should not buy liver, since in this case it most likely has a “venerable” age, which can also be determined by the color of the meat - the older it is, the darker the liver. Blood clots, blood vessels and greenish spots, which are a sign of damage to the gallbladder, are not allowed on the surface of the meat - in this case, the liver will be very bitter.
High-quality meat can be distinguished by its brown color with a burgundy tint, while light and yellowish meat indicates that the bird is sick. Fresh beef liver has a cherry color, and if it is lightly pierced with a knife or knitting needle, scarlet blood appears. Good veal liver is distinguished by a rich color - from brown to red, but the most important thing is that there is no gray coating, a telltale sign of stale meat. When buying 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, it means 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 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 and veins from the liver and remove the film from the beef liver by picking it up with the tip of a knife and lightly pulling it with your fingers, without making sudden movements. If you did everything correctly, the film will come off easily and quickly, without tearing, especially if you first place the meat in warm water for two minutes. There is another secret to preparing tender beef liver - cut it into pieces, sprinkle with a small amount of soda, leave for about an hour, and then rinse with water. This liver will melt in your mouth!
Liver (especially pork) is often bitter, but you can get rid of this bitterness if, after cleaning the meat from veins and film, soak it in cold cow's milk, whey or salt water for several hours. For piquancy, you can add a little sugar to the liquid, and the meat can be soaked either as a whole piece or cut into pieces. Milk works wonders with the liver, and even the coarsest 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 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.
Fry, boil, stew and bake
The liver is not only fried, stewed, boiled and baked, but also made into steaks, pates, salads, pancakes, etc. Fried liver is considered the most delicious, but some housewives do not risk cooking it for fear of not finishing it - who wants to chew dry and tasteless meat? We hasten to please you - frying liver is easy and simple, you just need skill!
How to cook liver in a frying pan without additional ingredients? Meat soaked in soda and well washed 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 dry out the meat. Let it simmer a little under the lid, simmer in its own juices and cook until cooked under the influence of internal temperature. Properly fried liver turns out amazingly airy and juicy, and to also prepare a tougher pork liver, fry it with carrots and onions, and then simmer in a small amount of 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, pre-frying is mandatory, otherwise you will never 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 it in the oven for 8 minutes. Readiness is checked with a knife - no blood or sanguineous fluid is released from the finished liver. The liver is usually baked in foil for no more than 30 minutes, but do not forget to add a small piece of lard with a slice of liver - for softness and juiciness. Remember the main rule for cooking liver: overdoing the cooking time turns tender meat into indigestible and hard sole.
Knowing how delicious liver can be cooked, it won’t be difficult for you to whip up a holiday lunch or dinner. This truly royal delicacy can be served with potatoes, vegetables, cereals, pasta, salad and the usual pickled onions. Properly prepared liver turns into a culinary and aesthetic pleasure that you want to cook again and again, adding unusual spices and ingredients. You can find even more on the “Eat at Home” website!
