Liver: love it or hate it

Ingredient of The Month: Liver

From the sophisticated to the robust, liver lends itself to a variety of dishes. Spices enhance its basic strong character, while herbs elevate it to the gourmet category. Friday gets a few top chefs in Dubai to present some choice liver dishes...

Some people love it with a passion; others politely turn up their nose and refuse a helping. Liver arouses strong emotions and gastronomic desires in people. Considered to be the basis for one of the most elegant and sophisticated dishes in the world - paté - alongside caviar and escargots - liver is an acquired taste. But once you take to it, it can lead to varied pleasurable experiences.

You can grill it or saute it, baste it or lard it. Considered a delicacy by many, liver is an ingredient which, thanks to its special flavour, goes extremely well with onions. Veal liver is considered the best, though chicken liver too is highly prized for its distinctive and delicate flavour.

Beef liver, on the other hand, is a bit tougher than veal liver and also less delicately flavoured. One thing you have to keep in mind when cooking beef liver is not to overcook it. It should still be pink in the middle when done. Liver can be cooked on dry heat - as in grilling or sauteing. Since it has very little fat, it can also be basted.

Ingredients
180 gms liver, sliced
Pepper and salt
A little butter

The mojo:
Juice of half a lemon
2 ml olive oil
10 gms of minced garlic
200 gms of pineapple puree
1 gm of thyme leaves
1 medium papaya, diced
Half a pineapple, diced
Salt and crushed pepper

The mash:
5 large potatoes
A pinch of nutmeg
Pepper and salt 
20 gms butter
100 ml cream

The sauce:
400 ml brown veal stock
50 gms brown sugarcane sugar
50 ml raspberry vinegar
20 gms butter
The liver:

Method
The mojo:
Heat olive oil in a pan and saute garlic for a minute. Add pineapple pulp and cook for two minutes. Add diced papaya and pineapple, and cook for one minute. Season well with pepper and salt. Add thyme. Remove from fire and keep aside.

The mash:
Boil potatoes in salted water till cooked, remove the skin and mash with a fork. Season with pepper,  salt and nutmeg. Add butter and cream.

The sauce:
Caramelise sugar in a pan, reglaze with raspberry vinegar and add stock. Reduce sauce until syrupy. Add butter at the end to make it smooth.

The liver:
Season liver well with pepper and salt, and panfry in very hot butter until cooked as per your taste. Drain on kitchen paper.

Presentation:
The mojo goes in the middle of the plate with an isle of mash in the centre. Place liver over the potato mash and spoon sauce over. Top with some banana fritters or fried onion rings and a stalk of parsley.

Wouter Liekens,
executive sous chef,
Hyatt Regency, Dubai

Spiced Liver-Stuffed Potatoes

Ingredient B
10 cashew nuts (soaked in water for 15 minutes)

Ingredients C
50 gms mint leaves  
50 gms coriander leaves 25 gms green chillies  
2 tbsp yoghurt 

Method
Wash peel and hollow the centre of each potato carefully to make a barrel shape. Wash and dice liver. Saute onions in one tbsp cooking oil till golden brown. Add garam masala powder, chillies and turmeric. Put in liver and saute together with the spices till cooked. Adjust seasoning.

Puree the sauteed liver in a blender along with the pan liquid. Deep-fry the potato barrels in medium-hot oil. Stuff the liver paste into the barrels. Keep aside. For the gravy, blend ingredients A, B and C separately. In a pan, heat one tbsp oil and put in paste A. Saute till cooked. Put in paste B and C, and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Add a little water to get the right sauce consistency. Season to taste. Place the liver-stuffed potatoes on a serving dish and spoon over the prepared gravy.
Serve with naan.

Chef Rajan
Indian Pavilion, Dubai

Liver Taka-tak