Lambs' liver dusted in gluten-free flour and flashed in bacon fat so it stays pink inside, served with a dark sage and onion gravy over mash.
Prep
15 mins
Cook
30 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£2.05
Difficulty
medium
Liver has a bad reputation earned entirely by overcooking. Ninety seconds a side in a properly hot pan leaves it faintly rosy and tender; two minutes longer turns it to shoe leather. The gravy is built in the same pan, so all the browned bacon and liver residue ends up in the sauce.
Sit the liver slices in the milk for 20 minutes, then drain and pat completely dry. This draws out any bitterness and gives you a milder, sweeter liver.
Discard the milk. Drying the slices properly afterwards is what lets them brown rather than stew.
Fry the bacon in a dry heavy pan until crisp, then lift out and keep warm, leaving the fat behind.
Add the butter to the bacon fat and cook the onions over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes until soft and browned at the edges. Stir in the sage for the last minute, then tip the lot onto a plate.
Season the flour with the salt and pepper, dust the liver slices in it and shake off the excess. Get the pan hot, then fry the liver for 90 seconds a side — no longer — until browned outside and blushing within. Set aside with the bacon.
Cook in two batches. A crowded pan drops in temperature and the liver poaches in its own juices.
Return the onions to the pan, pour in the stock and vinegar and scrape the base clean. Slake the cornflour with a tablespoon of cold water, whisk it in and simmer for 3 minutes until glossy. Stir in the mustard and check the seasoning.
Return the liver and any resting juices to the gravy for 30 seconds only, just to warm through. Serve over mashed potato with the bacon snapped over the top.