liver attempt #1 - fail

The liver and sour cream was... not good. It sounded like a good idea, but the recipe was not enough to compensate for the moose liver. Maybe I should stop trying with the moose liver. It's good when it's really, really, really fresh. After that, not so much.

The liver challenge

I know that liver is very good for me. I also know that I have quite a lot of it in the freezer - some moose, but mostly beef. Oh and some pork too I think. Somehow I end up with the livers whenever an animal is divvied up. Also, good pastured chicken livers are readily available here and cheap. Liver is a fantastic source of iron and other minerals, vitamins, A, D, and lots of different Bs, folic acid, and other good things. And, contrary to what people think, toxins are not stored in liver. Livers are responsible for metabolizing (or conjugating) toxins, but those that don't get dealt with stay in the blood and eventually lodge in the lyphatic system and fatty tissue, not the liver. So, as long as you'd happily eat the meat of animal, you can safely eat the liver. More than safely. Liver is the ultimate health food.

The problem? I don't really *like* it very much. I like pate, but I'm trying to cut way back on bread because it's been disagreeing with my insides, and pate on endive is good but violates my locavore philosophy too much to be a regular thing. (Somehow, belgian endive seems not to be grown around here.) Plus, you can get tired of pate.

Soooo... I am on the hunt for new liver recipes. I don't mind the basic liver, bacon & onions we all know and tolerate to some degree, but the child and the husband are less enthusiastic. My plan is to try one new recipe a week, and success will be determined by the amount of any given recipe we can eat. I have some moose liver sliced and soaking in milk in the fridge, and I think I shall make the Russian dish Liver with Sour Cream tonight (and maybe a meatloaf too just in case.)

(I have, in the past, hidden liver in meatloaf, but I feel that's cheating somehow.)

Got some great liver recipes? Post them in the comments!

Yummy Impromptu Dinner

Sarah's sister here - I've been visiting Victoria for a couple of weeks now and enjoying the lovely foods available here, both local and imported. Sarah and family are at the in-laws for dinner and I am on my own tonight. I feel like mentioning the pleasant simple dinner I just had, sourced from stuff I found in the fridge or on the counter. I sliced a pear and wrapped it up in prosciutto with the remains of the blue de Basque cheese and half an avocado. Washed down with the last glass of Quail's Gate Dry Riesling. Really good, and when I ran out of cheese and had enough of the prosciutto, I pulled out the maple smoked salmon candy and sliced up a few pieces of that to go with the rest of the pear and avocado. Finished with a square of Denman Island dark chocolate and a few spoonfuls of Liberte Dulce de Leche yogurt for dessert. What a good dinner.

Helllloooo, brand new bbq...

I got a spiffy new toy. I luuurrrve it. It makes delicious things. So far I have grilled sausages, done a slow-cooked smoked pork shoulder, and tonight I made skewers of scallops and bell peppers brushed with rosemary-infused lemon butter. YUM.

The scallops, by the way, were local - Qualicum Bay scallops purchased at Finest At Sea. At $23/lb they are not what one could term cheap, or even affordable. However, thanks to a generous donation to this week's grocery budget by my visiting sister (and occasional blog contributor) Rachel, I figured we could have a wee splurge. If you're going to buy scallops, it's worth spending a bit extra and getting good, fresh, local ones. SO much better than the squishy wet pucks that Thrifty's sells. Rowan fortunately decided she didn't like them, so Rachel, Stirling and I had more than enough. (I didn't like scallops either as a child, and really the last thing I need is Rowan being fond of yet another expensive form of seafood. Trips past any seafood counter are currently difficult as it is.)

Anyway, it was a delightful dinner and I am thoroughly impressed with the new bbq. I hope it lives up to its billing and lasts until we hit peak oil and propane becomes too expensive to cook with. (And no, I didn't pay the price listed on the Home Depot site.)