I Made You Liver…I Know.
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Well, I didn’t see life turning out like this. I…eat liver now?!?! And I do it for the fucking health benefits?!??! WOW. Gwyneth Paltrow is surely quaking. She better be careful not to let that jade egg fall out of her vagina. I jest - I fucking love Gwyneth Paltrow. One time, I posted a GOOP recipe for black bean burgers on my instagram (they were fantastic) and she left the hands up emoji as a comment and I’m pretty sure that’s when I peaked.
I wish I could just write a whole blog post on my wellness/business/personality idol Gwyneth Paltrow, but unfortunately, I’ve got to talk to you about beef liver and why I’ve decided I need to incorporate this awful - er, offal into my diet.
Liver is known as the most nutritionally-dense food on the planet. Why? Because its job is to store essential nutrients and filter out the bad shit. It’s packed so high with essential nutrients that can be hard to get in a lot of the Standard American Diet (SAD, indeed), while simultaneously being a potent form of protein with minimal calories.
100 grams, or about 3.5 oz of liver contains:
over 3,000% of your daily Vitamin B12 need. B12 is essential for the formation of red blood cells and DNA, which are key for longevity and anti-aging. It’s also doing good shit for your brain.
80% of your daily iron needs. EIGHT. GODDAMN. PERCENT. Basically, you can get all your iron needs met from one serving of this shit. More importantly, the iron that comes from liver is the most bioavailable type, which means your body can use it the best.
Over 1,500% of your daily copper needs. Interestingly, copper does amazing things for your skin (more to come on this in a future blog post). Inside your body, it regulates your iron metabolism, brain function, and energy production.
High levels of choline, which is important for your metabolic health.
26g of protein and only 163 calories. It’s basically a protein shake, except very, very different.
I’m not here to convince you to eat liver; it’s a tough sale that even Anna Delvey would struggle to make. What I am here to do is give you a tasty way to ingest it, should you choose to do so.
Everyone has heard of liver and onions, so I figured for our first foray into liver living I’d give it a try. Plus, onions are great for gut health, so you pack a Mike Tyson style nutritional punch to the system with the two. But because I wanted to enjoy my meal, I did what any good home cook would do and added a shitton of heavy cream to the thing.
I’m not gonna lie to you (this time). It was a little strange. For me, the flavor wasn’t an issue…it was more the texture. And I have a high tolerance for texture things with food, for reference. It wasn’t a bad or even foreign texture; it was just soft. Like, it doesn’t chew like muscle meat (think pork chops or any steak). It’s more like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but instead of bread and peanut butter and jelly, it’s…liver. But once you get past all that, its really good LOLLLLzzzzz.
I’ve got some other ideas about how to get more liver into my diet that don’t include smothering it in 400 grams of dairy fat, but especially for the uninitiated, this is a great, familiar-ish way to try this awful - er, offal cuisine.
Who else is a liver eater? How would you describe the experience of eating it? What’s your favorite way to eat it? Let me know in the comments!
Liver and Creamed Onions
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prep the liver. Pat liver dry then slice into one inch pieces (thin slices will make it a little easier to eat). Place liver slices in a large bowl with the milk. You want all the liver to be "marinated" with milk, so add more if it's not. Allow liver to sit in the milk for 30-60 minutes. This will help remove the bitterness from the liver.
- While the liver marinates, make the onions. Melt 1 Tbsp butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over low-medium heat. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook for a couple minutes until they start to soften.
- Add garlic. Stir often, allowing onions to caramelize, but not burn. This will take around 15-20 minutes. Just keep the heat low, make sure you have enough fat in the pan, and stir frequently.
- When onions start to turn golden and are super fragrant, add the heavy cream and stir. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens.
- Add nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat when it's ready and allow it to sit while you cook the liver.
- Remove liver from the milk and pat dry. Then, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- In a separate large pan, melt 2 Tbsp of butter over medium-high heat. Once butter starts to bubble, add your liver slices. Avoid overcrowding the pan by working in batches.
- Cook each side for 2-3 minutes, just until liver starts to brown. NOTE: liver won't brown the same way a steak will - it will turn more gray, but you still might see a little browning on the edges. You just want to be really careful not to overcook it since it's going in the creamed onions next.
- Add your mostly cooked liver to the creamed onions and turn heat to low. Give it all a stir and allow it to meld together for just a minute before serving.
