Nobody forgets school dinner liver, and that is exactly what this recipe sets out to correct. Hairy Bikers liver and bacon uses 450g of lambs’ liver with streaky bacon and onions, and it appears in both British Classics and Mums Still Know Best, serving four at about 370 calories.
They cooked it on the Mums Know Best show and say it went down a storm, with guests telling them they had forgotten how good it was. The other book calls it a dish mums used to make every week when they were young.
The liver is in the pan for about four minutes in total. A minute or two a side to brown, then out onto a plate, then one or two minutes back in the onions at the very end.
Hairy Bikers Liver and Bacon
Description
Half the flour seasons the liver and half thickens the sauce later. Onion and streaky bacon cook together for eight to ten minutes until the onion is pale gold and the bacon starts to crisp. A dash of tomato ketchup goes in at the end.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the liver: Rinse the lambs’ liver in a colander under cold water, drain well on kitchen paper and pat it dry.
- Heat the pan: Melt half the butter with the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat.
- Brown the liver: Put a tablespoon of the flour in a large bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Toss half the liver in it to coat, then lay each slice carefully in the hot fat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes each side, until lightly browned but not cooked through. Move to a plate and repeat with the rest.
- Cook the onion and bacon: Turn the heat down and melt the remaining butter in the same pan. Add the onion and stir for a minute to separate the layers, then add the bacon and cook together for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onion is pale golden brown and the bacon is starting to crisp. Stir often.
- Make the gravy: Sprinkle the rest of the flour over the onion and bacon and stir for a minute. Pour in the stock slowly, stirring constantly, bring to a simmer and cook over a medium heat until thickened.
- Season it: Add a dash of tomato ketchup and season with salt and pepper.
- Finish: Return the liver to the pan and warm it through for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with mash and greens.
FAQs
How do I know when the liver is done?
Take it out while it still looks underdone. At the browning stage it should be coloured outside and pink within, which the recipe states plainly.
Judge it by feel rather than time. Cooked liver is springy, overcooked liver is firm, and there is about thirty seconds between the two.
Why rinse the liver first?
It washes away any blood clinging to the slices, which would otherwise taste metallic and cloud the sauce. Rinse it in a colander, then drain and pat it properly dry.
Dry liver matters for the next step too. Wet slices will not take the seasoned flour evenly and they steam rather than brown in the hot butter.
What is the tomato ketchup doing?
Sharpening things, in a very small amount. One or two teaspoons goes into 500ml of stock, so you will not taste ketchup, just a little sweetness and acidity against all that beef.
It is the sort of trick that dates the recipe to the home cooking they grew up with. Both books include it, so it is not an afterthought.
Can I use calves’ liver instead?
Yes, and Mums Still Know Best suggests it if you are feeling posh. It is milder and more tender than lambs’ liver, and it costs considerably more.
They give a different treatment with it too: simmer the onions with a good slurp of marsala wine instead of making a traditional gravy. That turns it into something closer to the Venetian version.
Can I make this in a slow cooker?
I would not. Liver needs about four minutes of cooking in total and a slow cooker is built for the opposite, so several hours would leave you with something grey and grainy.
If you want those flavours cooked slowly, make the onion and bacon base in the slow cooker and fry the liver separately at the end. Their braised steak with gravy is the beef dish that suits slow cooking, and their lentil and bacon soup uses streaky bacon the same way to build a savoury base.
