Disguising Beef Liver (making tough liver more palatable)

So on a quest to eat only pastured meat and more organ meat I found a local farm that raises 100% grass fed beef. There ground beef is like $6 a lb but I found that I could buy liver and heart for $3 a lb! So I have been experimenting with feeding the heart and liver to my family. I found that if I ground the heart in my hand grinder just as I would deer meat then it is almost indistinguishable from ground beef. I just ground the whole thing. The liver is to tough and strong even for me to enjoy it took me a while longer to figure that one out. What I finely ended up doing was grinding the liver and putting it in ice cube trays then adding it a cube or or two at a time into dishes.
My newest concoction has been to mix curry, about 1lb ground liver and spices let it soak for a couple hours, serve over rice or potato. That is by far the best way I have found.

Any thoughts?

The result-

Beef liver is tough for two reasons. One, it is from an old animal and two, it has been over cooked and at too high a temperature. Slice the liver thick and dredge it in a seasoned flour of your choosing and fry it low and slow in hot lard until just barely cooked through. I use pork lard, because I have lots and I want to caramelize my onions in the seasoned liver bits when I am done with the liver.

To get rid of the bitter taste soak the liver in milk. Lots and lots of milk. I have 4 jersey cows so I can afford to do it for 2 or three days changing the milk daily 2x if needed. If the liver is from an old or grain fed steer, the milk will turn into a gelatine like pink pudding. Rinse it off into the compost bucket and pour on fresh milk. Keep soaking until the milk stops jelling. Fry as above. So tender almost too tender and no more bitterness because the milk will have drawn out the icky stuff. Seriously, butchers these days slice the liver too thin like minute steaks and its almost impossible to do a good job cooking it. Next time,try slicing your liver yourself about 1/2" thick.

Hi Ken,

I also don't like the taste of pure liver as being way too strong. We don't have cows but pigs, so that's different. What we do is make liver pate. Liver gets cooked short, and mixed with pork lard, skin and pork meat. For every pound of liver that's 2 pounds of meat, 1 pound of lard and 1 pound of skin.

The pork lard gets cooked below boiling point for half an hour, the skin and meat get cooked until done. Then it all gets pureed and mixed, salt pepper and spices added to taste, put in glass jars and cooked for two hours more by placing the jars in water just below boiling point. Then cooled and refrigerated. Stays good for over a week. Delicious

I have been soaking mine in lemon juice for 4 hours beforehand, though longer is always better, a day or two would be ideal. and yes the 1/2" thick slices are best, lard is key to add a sweet flavor, also serve with carmelized onions and bacon, plenty of bacon, the trio is delicious together, most nutritious meal ever and can feed the whole family for just a few bucks.

heart kabobs

i use the above recipe with deer hearts and do a quick stir fry so it is seared outside and med rare inside. my hunting buddies fight over them

I think using small portions and hiding it with lots of spices and other ingredients is the best way to go. That's what I do. I remember as a kid when my mom would try to foist off liver steaks, even milk soaked, as if it were food. Not worth the pain IMHO.

Thankfully, you only need one serving per month to get the full nutritional benefits of eating it. Of course if you're using it to stretch the budget that's different.

Could you make liverwurst? I've always hated the taste of liver, but somehow a liverwurst sandwich with mayo was tasty even as a finicky kid.

I enjoy a liver 'n' onions.

I can't seem to find a recipe from Alton Brown, which is a shame. His are really consistent winners.

I hated liver as a kid too. The last time we ordered a steer though I asked for the liver, tongue and heart. I've been looking for recipes and the winner right now is meatloaf from The Nourished Kitchen cookbook. Normally I don't really care for meatloaf but this was pretty good. It was a mix of ground pork, beef and liver.

I remember liking most organ meats growing up (fifties and sixties) especially beef heart and tongue, but also liver. I think it was always sliced thin, cooked with onions in lard, maybe breaded a little with just flour, salt and pepper. It was always really fresh either from the butcher or from a cow that dad butchered though. I don't remember it being tough ever...and good cold as leftovers....haven't had any in a long time.

....and I liked kidneys....I didn't like 'sweet breads' or brains although my parents considered them a special treat........farm folks