The 3.25-lb. rabbit we bought yielded a 100-gram liver. A nice, big, shiny thing, free of odd odors or textures. The best liver I ever saw.I made a bit of a mess of it trying to remove some internal membranes, but basically that just resulted in having a bunch of smaller pieces to saute in butter.
It was so easy.
One recipe I liked
The recipe also used orange zest (as well as lemon zest), so we were hunky dory goin' in!
Method: Gently saute liver (pieces) in a little butter until cooked but not browned; 10 minutes? Remove liver from pan and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
Melt the rest of the butter with ground pepper, orange zest, salt and crunched bay leaves. (This is where you may do as you like, seasoning-wise.)
When the liver is cool, force it through a sieve with a wooden spoon, or through a tamis with a scraper. Push, push, scrape, scrape. Into a bowl, duh. Now, immediately pour in the seasoned warm butter and stir well (did you remove the bay leaves first? Good.).
Pack the resulting pâté (yes, you now have pâté) into something cute, drizzle any extra butter on top, cover it, and refrigerate overnight. Even in the fridge, the flavors will all redistribute themselves.
Next day, allow to come to a warmer temperature if you like, and smear the pâté on baguette slices. Or toasted baguette slices.
Mm. The best liver I ever ate.
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15 comments:
all i can say is that i think this recipe should have had some orange zest. cookie. listen to me. orange zest. it's the next big thing.
what would orange zest not improve upon? perhaps you have hit on an absolute all purpose foodstuff?
ceF: On reflection, I'm thinking that perhaps I just have the best orange zest in the world, better than any other orange zest out there. My oranges are huge, beautiful navels with fresh, gorgeous skin. Mm.
And stop stealing my ideas!!
Don't you love how many meals one small animal can provide (if you know what you're doing?)
Now I'm going to have to stop on my way home for some pate. And next time you can throw the rabbit into some Brunswick Stew.
Was that from Ms Stephanie Alexander by any chance? She does amazing things with livers and such.
Peter: It's a delight. Rillettes are in the making, as we speak.
Dagny: Brunswick stew is so American! Yee-hah. I'm afraid I've drifted a bit Europe-ward with this preparation... But, yeah. Next time.
Morgan: Ashamed to admit it was from the Farmed Rabbit Industries of Australia Ltd., AND, it wasn't the recipe with the half-amount of butter after all. Nor the orange zest. That came from England. I guess I was scooting all over the Interwebz for ideas, and I mushed them all together.
Hey - that looks just like the orange-szechwan pepper ice cream I made using the oranges you gave me from your tree.
Sam: Stunning! What a terrific-sounding recipe. (Today I filled a jar with confit of orange slices.)
How many ounces in a gram? That sounds like a _huge_ liver! But, the result looks yummy!
Gawd, I've never heard of the Farmed Rabbit Industries of Australia Ltd - Mushed up make ups are sometimes the best there are!
I confess - it's not my favourite ice cream. But i have a plan for improving on it inspired by a greedy coming together of outside forces.
I also have a jar of orange confit. With rosemary.
Ha! Morgan DID have an Australian rabbit. I remember asking the woman at Fatted Calf if the big 'un in the case was from Australia. Little did I know....
You have managed some fabulous treats from one animal purchase.
NOm NOm NOm. Forget the baguette. Gimme a spoon.
Also, forgive me, but rillettes sounds like a degenerative bone disease that children got in the 1920s. But tastier.
Zoomie: Uh. I could look it up. It *was* big, relative to the little creature it came from.
Morgan: And it could come out totally different next time, but now I have a technique! Yay.
Kudzu: And it's still coming. Did I tell you about the rabbit tea?
Kidding!!
Heather: I could have scooped it into ice cream cones!
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