After the loss…

Speaking of rebuilding, as I was… the blood bank recommends various foods to help rebuild the iron loss suffered when donating whole blood and on that list is liver. Which made me think; it had been a long time since we had enjoyed a good liver dinner. So I looked for a recipe and I think I found a real keeper! If you never liked liver before, this is the recipe that would change your mind. I'm not kidding!

Truth, I did change a few items in the recipe; I can't help myself. I started with .8 pounds of fresh beef liver. For $1.54. I added some olive oil to the pan and sautéed about half a yellow onion, sliced thin. When the onion was translucent, I removed it and set it aside. I put together a half a cup of flour, salt and ground pepper, plus a generous portion of Trader Joe's 21 Season Salute, a blend of 21 spices. I cut the liver into 4 serving sized pieces, dredged them in the flour mix and then browned them quickly on both sides. Then I opened a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes; the ones with basil and garlic already added. I poured that into the pan and made sure that the tomato mixture got under the liver as well as on top. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning on it. Now add the onions back to the pan and set the whole thing to simmering for 8 to 10 minutes. Don't go beyond 10 minutes as liver quickly grows tough when overcooked. (I was able to cut mine with my fork) I cooked some mashed potatoes to go with it and it was superb! And with 4 pieces cooked, we have reruns for a meal later in the week.

Now I'm thinking that with the proper spices, you could enjoy a Mexican Style dinner with liver; just add cumin and cilantro to the mix. And how about New Mexican? Just add green chilies…there's no end to what you can do with it and it's cheap!