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Calf's Liver with Bacon and Onions

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  • Active Time

    35 minutes

  • Total Time

    35 minutes

The mashed sweet potatoes with sage butter are a great side dish for calf's liver. We recommend asking the butcher for the freshest calf's liver available, since it can vary in quality. Soaking the liver in milk, a method typically used for pork liver, helps soften and mellow its flavor.

Ingredients

4 servings

1 lb calf's liver (1/2 inch thick), cut into 4 pieces
1 cup whole milk
8 bacon slices, halved crosswise
3 medium onions, halved lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Soak liver in milk in a bowl 20 minutes.

    Step 2

    While liver is soaking, cook bacon in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, turning over occasionally, until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain and reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons fat in skillet, transferring remaining fat to a small bowl.

    Step 3

    Cook onions with salt and pepper to taste in fat in skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer onions to a bowl and add bacon. Keep warm, covered.

    Step 4

    Pat liver dry and discard milk. Stir together flour, salt, and pepper on a sheet of wax paper and dredge liver in flour mixture, shaking off excess.

    Step 5

    Add 1 1/2 tablespoons reserved bacon fat to skillet and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté liver, turning over once, until browned but still pink inside, about 4 minutes total. Serve liver topped with onions and bacon.

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  • So delicious. !!!!!

    • cherylrice77

    • woodland hills, California

    • 7/22/2019

  • A great standard recipe that allows the quality of great calf's liver shine through. Mine came from a local farmer who does things right!!

    • Einer2

    • Hilliard, OH, USA

    • 3/7/2014

  • Very good, but missing something. I added sage and finished browning the onions after the liver had cooked, so I could soak up those tasty brown bits. This is a good recipe for a super-quick weekday meal, but if I had more time I definitely prefer the Sauteed Calf's Liver with Red Wine Vinegar recipe on here.

    • mayhem1113

    • Alberta

    • 11/2/2010

  • My family is one of few that love this dish. I made this for my mom - she hadn't had liver & onions for years! It brought back childhood memories for all of us!

    • Anonymous

    • Hailey, Idaho

    • 11/29/2003

  • There really isn't anything to the recipe. It's easy to prepare and taste great. I'm a big liver and onions fan and what made this different, was the soaking in milk. A definite keeper.

    • Anonymous

    • Harrison, New Jersey

    • 10/31/2003

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