Sautéed Calf’s Liver and Onions, Venetian Style
LIVER VENETIAN STYLE, fegato alla veneziana, is not just liver and onions. The onions are a necessary part of it, of course, but what really matters is that the liver be pale pink, creamy, and free of gristly, chewy tubes because it comes from a very young calf, that it be cut in even slices no thicker than ¼ inch, and that it be sautéed in a flash, at high heat. To cook the liver correctly, there should be no more than one layer of it at a time in the pan, because then it will stew, becoming stiff, bitter, and gray; it must be spread out in a broad pan, and cook so quickly at such fast heat that it has no time to lose any of its sweet juices.
There is one traditional feature of fegato alla veneziana it is possible to ignore without compromising the excellence of the dish. Venetian butchers cut the thin slices of liver into bite-size strips 1 1½ inches wide, and if you are having Venetians to dinner that is what you may want to do. I find it more practical to leave the slices whole; it makes them easier to turn when they are cooking, and it permits you to exercise more control to cook all the liver more uniformly.
For 6 servings
1½ pounds choice, pale pink calf’s liver, cut into slices no more than ¼ inch thick
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups onion sliced very, very thin
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Remove any of the thin, stiff skin that may still be on the liver. It would shrink while cooking, and keep the liver from lying flat in the pan. If you find any large white gristly tubes, remove those also.
2. Choose your largest skillet or saute pan, put in the oil, the onion, and salt, and turn on the heat to medium low. Cook the onion for 20 minutes or more until it is completely limp and has become colored a nut brown.
3. Remove the onion from the skillet, using a slotted spoon or spatula, and set aside. Do not remove any oil. Turn the heat on to high, and when the oil is very hot, put in as many slices of liver as will fit loosely, without overlapping. They are not likely to fit in all at one time, so be prepared to do them in batches. The moment the liver loses its raw color, turn it, and cook for just a few seconds longer. Transfer the first batch when done to a warm plate, using a slotted spoon or spatula, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat the procedure until all the slices are done, then put the liver back into the pan.
4. Quickly put the onion back in the pan while the heat is still on, turn the onion and liver over once completely, then transfer the entire contents of the pan to a serving platter, and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note You can complete the recipe up to this point several hours in advance.
Breaded Calf’s Liver
BREADING IS ONE of the most desirable things you can do with liver that is sliced thin in the Italian style. It protects the liver’s precarious moisture, and the crisp coating contrasts very agreeably with the softness of young liver, when it is perfectly cooked.
For 6 servings
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1½ pounds choice, pale pink calf’s liver, cut into slices no more than ¼ inch thick
¾ cup fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted in the oven or in a skillet
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Lemon wedges at table
1. Remove any of the thin, stiff skin that may still be on the liver. It would shrink while cooking, and keep the liver from lying flat in the pan. If you find any large white gristly tubes, remove those also.
2. Put the oil and butter in a large saute pan and turn on the heat to medium high. Turn the liver slices in the bread crumbs on both sides, pressing the liver against the crumbs with the palm of your hands. Shake off excess crumbs and as soon as the butter foam begins to subside, slip the slices into the pan. Do not put in any more at one time than will fit loosely, without overlapping.
3. Cook the liver until it forms a crisp, brown crust on one side, then do the other side. Altogether, it should take about 1 minute. As you do one batch of slices, transfer them with a slotted spoon or spatula to a cooling rack to drain or to a platter lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and slip another batch into the pan, repeating the same procedure, until all the slices are done. Transfer to a warm platter and serve at once.
Grilled Calf’s or Pork Liver Wrapped in Caul
CAUL IS A SOFT, net-like membrane that envelops the pig’s intestines. It dissolves slowly over a hot fire, eventually disappearing almost completely, thus acting as a natural basting agent for meats that need to be protected from drying. Liver grilled in a caul wrap is unequaled for its juiciness and sweetness.
Caul can be found at butchers that specialize in fresh pork, or it can be ordered from them. It is inexpensive and freezes perfectly, so that when you find it, it is worth buying a quantity of it. If when you freeze it, you divide it into several parts, it will be easier to use it on successive occasions.
For 6 servings
About 1 pound fresh or thawed caul, in one or several pieces
1½ pounds calf or pork liver, cut into pieces about 1 inch thick, 3 inches long and 2 inches wide
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Whole bay leaves
Sturdy round toothpicks
Preferably a charcoal or gas-fired lava rock grill
1. If using an indoor broiler, preheat it 15 minutes before cooking. If using charcoal, light it in sufficient time for it to form a coating of white ash before cooking.
2. Soak the caul in lukewarm water for about 5 minutes until it becomes soft and loose. Rinse in several changes of water. Lay the membrane on a dry cloth and carefully spread it open. Cut the best parts into rectangles 5 by 7 inches. Do not waste time with small pieces that need patching.
3. Remove skin or tough, exposed tubes from the liver. Wash it in cold water and pat it thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place a bay leaf on each piece, and wrap one of the caul rectangles around the liver, tucking under the ends. Fasten the wrapper to the liver with a toothpick.
4. Place the liver and caul bundles in the broiler or on the grill. Turn them after 2 to 3 minutes, and cook the other side another 2 minutes, depending on the intensity of heat. When done, the liver should still be pink and moist inside; if you are in doubt, cut into one piece to see. Serve piping hot, letting your guests remove the toothpicks themselves.
Sautéed Chicken Livers with Sage and White Wine
For 6 servings
1½ pounds chicken livers
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons onion chopped very fine
1 dozen fresh sage leaves
⅓ cup dry white wine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Examine the livers carefully for bile-green spots and cut them away. Remove any bits of fat, wash the livers in cold water, then pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Put the butter and onion in a skillet, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Then turn the heat up to high and add the sage leaves and chicken livers. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, turning the livers over frequently, until they lose their raw, red color. Transfer them to a warm plate, using a slotted spoon or spatula.
3. Add the wine to the skillet, and let it simmer briskly for 20 or 30 seconds, while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose cooking residues from the bottom and sides of the pan. Add to the pan any liquid the livers may have shed on their plate, and boil it away.
4. Return the livers briefly to the pan, turning them over rapidly once or twice. Add salt and pepper, turn them once again, then transfer them with all the pan juices to a warm platter and serve at once.
Sautéed Sweetbreads with Tomatoes and Peas
BREAD USED TO BE another way to say morsel, and sweet morsel is an accurate
description of this most delectable portion of an animal’s anatomy. Sometimes the coarser, stringier pancreas is passed off as sweetbread, but the real thing is the thymus, a gland in the throat and chest of young animals, which disappears as the animal matures. There are two parts to the gland, the “throat” and the “heart.” The latter is the larger, more regularly formed, the less fatty of the two, and if there is a choice, it is the preferred one, but “throat” sweetbread is very nearly as good.
In the version given here, poached sweetbreads are sautéed in butter and oil, then cooked with tomatoes and peas. Many vegetables work well with this cream-like meat, but none more happily than peas, whose youth and sweetness are a natural match to the sweetbreads’ own.
For 4 to 6 servings
1½ pounds calf’s sweetbreads
A small carrot, peeled
1 celery stalk
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
Salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2½ tablespoons chopped onion
⅔ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped coarse, with their juice
2 pounds unshelled fresh young peas OR 1 ten-ounce package frozen small, early peas, thawed
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Working under cold running water, peel off as much of the membrane enveloping the sweetbreads as you can. It takes a little patience, but nearly all of it should come off. When done, rinse the peeled sweetbreads in cold water and drain.
2. Pour enough water into a saucepan to cover the sweetbreads amply later. Add the carrot, celery, vinegar, and salt, and bring to a boil. Add the sweetbreads and adjust the heat to cook at the gentlest of simmers. After 5 minutes, retrieve the sweetbreads and, while they are still as warm as you can handle, pull off any remaining bits of membrane. When cool and firmer, cut into small bite-size pieces, about 1 inch thick.
3. Put the butter, oil, and onion in a saute pan, turn on the heat to medium, cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the sweetbreads. Cook, turning them, until they become colored a light brown all over. Add salt and the chopped tomatoes with their juice, and adjust heat to cook at a very slow simmer.
4. If using fresh peas, shell them and add them to the pan after the tomatoes have simmered for 15 minutes. If using frozen peas, add the thawed peas after the tomato has simmered for 30 minutes. Add pepper and turn over all ingredients thoroughly. Cover tightly and cook at a slow, but steady simmer, until the peas are tender if using fresh ones, or for 5 minutes, if using the frozen.
5. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once. If you find that the pan juices are too watery, transfer only the sweetbreads, using a slotted spoon or spatula, reduce the juices rapidly in the uncovered pan over high heat, then pour the contents of the pan over the sweetbreads.
Ahead-of-time note You can complete the recipe up to this point even a day in advance, stopping short, however, of cutting the sweetbreads into pieces. Refrigerate tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight plastic bag. Cut into pieces when cold out of the refrigerator, but let them come to room temperature before proceeding with the next step.
Sautéed Lamb Kidneys with Onion, Treviso Style
THE METHOD that the cooks of Treviso use for this exceptionally simple and mild recipe for kidneys takes a step away from conventional procedure when it briefly heats up the kidneys in a pan all by themselves, before they are to be sautéed with onion. By this device they extract and discard some of the liquid responsible for the sharpness that is sometimes an objectionable component of kidney flavor.
For 4 servings
16 lamb kidneys
⅓ cup wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup onion chopped fine
3 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1. Split the kidneys in half and wash them in cold water. Put them in a bowl with the vinegar and enough cold water to cover amply. Soak them for at least 30 minutes, then drain.
2. Cut the kidneys into very thin slices that will resemble sliced mushroom caps. When you reach the whitish core, slice around it and discard the core.
3. Put the kidneys in a saute pan and turn the heat on to medium. Cook them for about 2 minutes, stirring them almost constantly, until they lose their raw color and become grayish and they shed a dark red liquid. Remove the kidneys from the pan, discarding all the liquid. Put them in a wire strainer or colander and rinse them in fast-running cold water. Drain and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
4. Rinse the saute pan and wipe it dry. Put in the oil, butter, and onion, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook, stirring the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the kidneys, stir 2 or 3 times to coat them well, then add the parsley. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add salt and pepper, stir again, turning over the kidneys completely, then transfer them to a warm platter with all the pan juices and serve at once.
Sautéed Lamb Kidneys with Onion, Garlic, and White Wine
For 6 servings
2 dozen lamb kidneys
⅓ cup wine vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons onion chopped very fine
½ teaspoon garlic chopped fine
3 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ teaspoon cornstarch mixed into ¾ cup dry white wine
1. Split the kidneys in half and wash them in cold water. Put them in a bowl with the vinegar and enough cold water to cover amply. Soak them for at least 30 minutes, drain, and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Cut the kidneys into very thin slices that will resemble sliced mushroom caps. When you reach the whitish core, slice around it and discard the core.
3. Put the oil and onion in a sauté pan, turn on the heat to medium high, and sauté the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the garlic. Stir rapidly 2 or 3 times, add the parsley, stir once, then add the kidneys. Stir thoroughly to coat the kidneys well, add salt and pepper, and stir again. The kidneys must be cooked swiftly at lively heat or they will become tough. As soon as they lose their raw, red color, transfer them to a warm plate, using a slotted spoon or spatula.
4. Add the wine and cornstarch to the pan and while the wine simmers briskly for 15 or 20 seconds, use a wooden spoon to scrape loose cooking residues from the bottom and sides of the pan. When the pan juices begin to thicken, return the kidneys to the pan, using a slotted spoon or spatula so as to leave behind any liquid they may have shed. Turn the kidneys over once or twice to coat them well, then transfer them with all the pan juices to a warm platter and serve at once.
Fried Calf’s Brains
THIS IS the most popular way of doing brains in Italy. The brains are first poached with vegetables, sliced when cool, and fried with an egg and bread crumb batter. Frying points up their exquisite texture: As one bites, the thin, golden crust gives way, yielding to the delectably tender core.
For 4 servings
1 calf’s brains, about 1 pound
1 medium carrot, peeled
½ onion, peeled
½ stalk celery
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
Salt
1 egg
1 cup fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted in a skillet or in the oven, spread on a plate
Vegetable oil
Lemon wedges at table
1. Wash the brains thoroughly under cold running water, then let them soak in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Drain, and patiently remove as much of the surrounding membrane as you can along with the external blood vessels.
2. Put the carrot, onion, celery, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan with 6 cups water, and bring to a boil. Put in the brains and as soon as the wate
r returns to a boil, adjust heat to cook at a steady, but very gentle simmer, and cover the pan.
3. After 20 minutes, drain the brains, and allow them to cool completely. When cold, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until they are very firm.
4. Put the egg in a deep plate or small bowl, and with a fork or whisk beat it lightly together with 1 teaspoon salt.
5. When the brains are quite firm, cut them into pieces about ½ inch thick. Dip them into the beaten egg, letting the excess flow back into the plate or bowl, then turn them in the bread crumbs, coating them well all over.
Ahead-of-time note You can prepare the brains up to this point several hours in advance on the same day you expect to fry them. Also see the alternative to frying in the variation below with poached brains.
6. Put enough vegetable oil in a skillet to come ¼ inch up the sides, and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is very hot, slip the pieces of brains into the pan, putting in no more at one time than will fit loosely, without crowding. Cook until a fine, golden crust forms on one side, then turn and do the other side. Transfer to a cooling rack to drain or to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat the procedure with the remaining pieces, until all are done. Serve immediately, with wedges of lemon on the side.
Poached Brains with Olive Oil and Lemon Juice Variation
The juices of those two quintessentially Mediterranean fruits, the olive and the lemon, have a beguilingly fragrant effect on poached brains. Poach the brains as described above, drain them, and let them cool partially. Do not refrigerate. When the brains are just slightly warmer than room temperature, cut into thin slices, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and coarsely ground black pepper, and serve at once.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 49