OKAY, here we go! Gonna bastardize a liver pudding recipe and hope it comes out tasting good (enough) anyway.
For longer version, read on:
So, I cooked up some beef liver in a pan last night. Made sure it was cooked all the way through, no red juicy stuff coming out anymore. Managed to not burn the outside! Only a touch of pink in places. Smelled AWFUL while cooking. But held out hope for eating as I know of one food dish I love to eat but dislike the smell of while it’s cooking. Anyway, Try a bite: Hm, okay, not bad, really kinda bland. I can eat this! WOAH!!! That aftertaste is … uncooked meat? meat going bad? some kind of bold awful spice? I can’t quite give it a name, but it’s BLEAHYUCK. *sigh* MUCH barbecue sauce, naan bread, and some ketchup later, and I manage to finish the whole 1/4 lb of liver serving. It took time though…. And a strip of bacon to bring the whole thing home.
Now, Liver Pudding has been recommended to me by a top advisor. The internet seems to agree that Liver Pudding is a yummy way to eat liver and still get the Iron benefit. (Unlike pate or liverwurst, which dilute the liver so much there’s little iron content. Even ground beef provides more iron!)
Well, liver pudding is a Southern thing. Specifically the Carolinas. Ain’t got it up here in the MidWest. So I go hunting for a recipe online. Also learn the difference between Liver Mush and Liver Pudding (cornmeal, which I don’t have at home). Find what appears to be a really good pudding recipe! However, liver pudding (and mush) is made from Pig Liver. My grocery store only had Beef liver. Also, I don’t have Allspice, and I really don’t want to buy some just for the dash called for by the recipe!
More internet research tells me soaking beef liver in milk for ~1hr before cooking dulls or removes the “bitter” taste. Okay, sure, we’ll call the aftertaste that.
So, I’m gonna make Living Pudding using beef liver (instead of pork liver), ground beef (instead of ground pork), cinnamon (instead of allspice), salt, onion, black pepper, butter, flour, milk, egg (all as recipe says), and no bay leaves (cause I don’t have ‘em either and those are just for on top). Oh yeah, I don’t have a pudding mold for the over either. Gonna use a small cake pan instead.
Wish me luck!