Liver and Mash

With the other half out on a works night out last night I had the chance to cook myself one of my all time favourite meals. Liam isn’t so keen on liver or mashed potato so we really don’t eat it very often. I on the other hand love the stuff, so for dinner last night I had liver in a rich onion and mushroom gravy served on top of a large helping of creamy mashed potato inside a giant Yorkshire pudding. Yum yum.

Cooking the meal was simple. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and place a tray of oil in there to heat up. Next make your batter mix with 2 medium eggs, a splash of milk and plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper and thoroughly whisked to make a light and fluffy batter with plenty of air bubbles. When the oil is very hot pour in the batter mix and stick the tray back into a hot oven.

Now for the liver. I used fresh lambs liver. Heat a little oil in a wok and lightly brown a small onion, 1 small garlic clove grated and a couple of chopped mushrooms. Next add the liver and lightly brown on both sides before adding a cup full of boiling water and a stock cube. Turn the heat down and gently simmer the liver.

Next the mash. You need light fluffy spuds for this. I used Maris Piper, the great all rounder. Stick a pan of boiling water on the hob and peel the spuds. Cut up into small cubes, about 1cm in either direction. Boil for approximately ten minutes before draining and leaving to air dry for a minute or so. Now for the mashing. Add a good dollop of butter and a splash of milk before mashing into a smooth, lump free mix. Leave the lid on the pan for a minute or so to dry out any excess water.

By now the Yorkshire pudding should be ready, so dish it up onto a large warm plate. Add a good helping of mashed potato to the pudding and finally top off with your liver which should by now be silky smooth and melt in the mouth and drench in lashings of the rich onion and mushroom gravy.

A great winter dish if ever there was one. For some liver brings back memories of poor offerings force fed to them as children, but given the right cut of liver and some sympathetic cooking techniques this can make for a dish that even the most hardened liver haters will enjoy.