To Roast Calf's Liver

Modern cookery for private families · Acton, Eliza · 1845
Source
Modern cookery for private families
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (15)
For roasting
For French style preparation
For gravy (economical mode)
For serving sauce
Instructions (16)
  1. Prepare the liver: either lard it as a fricandeau upon the surface, or with large strips of highly-seasoned bacon inside.
  2. Alternatively, wrap the liver in well-buttered paper.
  3. Roast the liver at a moderate distance from a clear fire for 1 to 1.25 hours.
  4. Keep the liver constantly basted during roasting.
  5. Remove the paper about 10 to 15 minutes before the liver is done.
  6. Froth the liver well before serving.
  7. Serve with a sauce of some piquancy (such as poivrade or brown eschalot) and good gravy.
French Style Preparation (Overnight)
  1. Steep the liver overnight in vinegar.
  2. Add a sliced onion and branches of savoury herbs over the liver in the vinegar.
Economical Gravy Mode
  1. Trim off some small bits of the liver.
  2. Flour the small liver bits.
  3. Lightly fry the floured liver bits with a sliced onion.
  4. Stew the fried bits and onion down for gravy in 3/4 pint of water poured into the pan.
  5. Add a few peppercorns and a small bunch of herbs to the gravy.
  6. Season the gravy with salt.
  7. Add a little lemon pickle or juice if desired.
Original Text
TO ROAST CALF’S LIVER. Take the whole or part of a fine white sound liver, and either lard it as a fricandeau upon the surface, or with large strips of highly-seasoned bacon in the inside (see Larding, page 181); or should either of these modes be objected to, merely wrap it in a well buttered paper, and roast it from an hour to an hour and a quarter at a moderate distance from a clear fire, keeping it constantly basted. Remove the paper, and froth the liver well from ten to fifteen minutes before it is done. It should be served with a sauce of some piquancy, such as a poivrade, or brown eschalot, in addition to some good gravy. French cooks steep the liver over-night in vinegar, with a sliced onion and branches of savoury herbs laid over it: this whitens and renders it firm. As an economical mode, some small bits of the liver may be trimmed off, floured, and lightly fried with a sliced onion, and stewed down for gravy in three quarters of a pint of water which has been poured into the pan, with the addition of a few peppercorns, and a small bunch of herbs. A seasoning of salt must not be forgotten, and a little lemon pickle, or juice, would generally be considered an improvement. 1 to 1-1/4 hour.
Notes