Best Liver and Onions, really!

Never in a million years would I have expected myself to be a liver lover. I find this journey into the GAPS/whole foods diet such a fascinating act of self discovery. When I think back, especially on my childhood, fitness and health were always a big part of my life, but my understanding of nutrition and what it means to be healthy has certainly changed a lot throughout the years. Growing up in the 80s, all I heard as a kid was to count calories and exercise, which I did in earnest only to have less than optimal results. Ok, so maybe there was a bit of rationalizing that dessert instead of a proper supper, or having a soda instead of something snacky like chips (it was diet soda after all), but I was a kid. I mean, I always thought the "healthy" foods like salads and fresh fruits and veggies LOOKED really good, they just never appealed to my very narrow palate.

Of course all that has been changing over the years, and continues to take some pretty radical turns as I have been exploring the GAPS diet, but there were and still are some things that make me a little hesitant, like introducing organ meats. I had not heard the best things about organ meats, especially liver. Most people don't seem to care for it so of course that tainted my own perspective as well, even though the hubby had no qualms and had actually been known to enjoyed it on occasion. I was determined to add this nutritional power food to my diet though, and so I bought my first package of liver online from US Wellness Meats. I heard on various podcasts how people like to "hide" the liver with other ground meat to make it more palatable, so naturally this is where I started. My first attempt at introducing liver into the diet resulted in some pretty delicious burgers, and I never tasted the liver. Baby steps.

Flash forward a couple of months later to an evening dining out with the family. The hubby orders some liver for dinner, and again, I was very hesitant to taste it, after all, I had a delicious prime rib sitting right in front of me. It was not till the next morning when I finally I discovered the savory, complex yet mellow flavor of liver. Something about the texture and the overall richness of the meat that really stuck with me. Of course it was once again mixed with additional meat, the leftover prime rib from the night before, but to my amazement it was actually quite yummy! I was finally enjoying liver!

The next step was to try making it on my own, on it's own, and after a few experiments, found a pretty awesome recipe! The only problem, never enough liver to go around...!

The recipe is pretty simple and, like any recipe, is very loose and easily modified. All I use is some coconut flour with a little salt and pepper to dredge the liver, with a heaping helping of coconut oil for cooking, though any GAPS/Paleo friendly oil will do. The best tip I can give for preparing liver though is to soak it with lemon juice. I think the shortest I've done is a couple hours, so it's not necessarily a quick evening meal depending on the forethought, but after the soaking the cooking goes pretty quick. And don't forget the caramelized onions, which is another awesome recipe (cooking tip?) that I will have to post about as well. Too much yummy food, too little time (and fridge space!).


The Recipe:

• 2 lbs good quality, grass-fed liver (I do like liver!)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
• pepper to taste
• at least 1 tbs lemon juice (I get pretty liberal with the juice.)
• water - enough to cover the liver completely for soaking
• coconut oil for cooking (1-2tbs)
• 1 onion, or better yet, caramelized onions!

The Process:

• Rinse liver well and place in water and lemon juice in a large bowl to soak for at least two hours.
• While the liver is soaking, or right before it's finished, prep the coconut flour, salt and pepper in a bowl for dredging.
• After soaking, rinse liver well again and start slicing. I aim for about 1/2-1in strips, but to your own preference.
• Get your skillet going with coconut oil. *If cooking up the onions with the liver, add those in and let them get soft and translucent BEFORE adding the liver. If using pre-made/prepped caramelized onions, those can be added at any time. While the pan is heating, start dredging by placing the strips of liver in the dredge, making sure to evenly coat each piece.
• Once all the pieces are coated start dropping them into the hot skillet. I generally cook around medium heat, and just keep an eye on the pieces so they don't over cook. Since these are generally being made for the week's leftovers, I will generally error on the side of pinker, more under cooked than over.

And that's about it! Pro tip: make sure not to over cook the liver as it tends to get a bit more rubbery the longer it cooks! Play around with other seasonings too, some paprika or a small bit of cayenne could add a nice little pop of flavor to the dish. And definitely experiment with caramelized onions, which turn out pretty awesome when done in the slowcooker...!

The Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen.

Prior to starting our GAPS journey, the hubby and I were on a mission to clean up the diet with more organic foods, which have become the main-stay ever since. Going entirely, or in our case mostly (depending on the week), organic is not a cheap endeavor though (thank you government for the over-priced organic labeling....), and so being aware of the produce that has the least amount of contamination is important. To help us keep on the up and up with our shopping, I created these two posters illustrating the Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen (based on the Environmental Working Group list for 2013). I'm a big saver when it comes to my pennies, so I'm hoping that by having these posters prominently displayed in the kitchen will help us remember what to buy, whether we're at the grocery store or the local farmer's market.

Another aid in our quest for high-quality, fresh food has been the purchase of an additional freezer, which has been on the wish-list for far too long. Whether it's produce or meat, helping to squeak out some longevity from the food we eat is important. Hopefully, this will help us save some additional dollars down the road, along with me exercising some restraint when it comes to the grocery shopping in general....(I have a tendency to over buy and stock-pile food....).

Some of the other ways we've been saving lately, is buying seasonally. What a unique concept I know, but it really does make a difference with the grocery bill. With everything being so on-demand at the grocery stores, I never had much appreciation for the types of foods available during the different times of year. Shopping regularly at the farmer's market has definitely changed that for me, and has opened me up to so much more yummy food like rutabagas, which I have experimented with a bit and got some pretty awesome results. It really is worth the effort to get to the market if you can, especially if you can find a good organic vendor as we have in the JenEhr Family Farm.

Next on our to-do list is to purchase more bulk meat, like a half or whole cow. I'm so curious and excited to not only play with some more recipes for all the different parts, but also to see just how long that amount of meat would last us. We've been purchasing our meat from Ney's Big Sky, who generally attend most of the local farmer's markets throughout the summer, and have a delivery system for the off-season. Everything we've had from then has been pretty outstanding, so purchasing the meat in bulk is a no-brainer, just gotta suck it up and do it. The difficulty is that there is definitely a large upfront investment, but I'm hopeful that it will be well worth it! I mean, how could having even more delicious food not be worth that little extra effort?!