We’re currently trying to eat our way through several bags of liver, which I found at the bottom of the freezer last week, and so I’ve been thinking more about offal in general, as it’s a category of protein that is so incredibly nutrient-dense that it deserves an article all of its own.
I realise that for some people the word offal alone may be enough to make you scroll past the rest of this article, but if you can, please bear with me, because there really is a strong case for including these foods in a recovery diet, and I promise there is a recipe at the end that even confirmed offal-sceptics have been known to enjoy!
A childhood memory
My first experience of offal was at my grandmother's house in London, when I was small. She was a very instinctive, traditional, and frugal cook, and consequently extremely practical about food. Nothing was wasted, everything had a purpose, and offal was simply part of her regular routine. She served heart, brains, liver and kidneys, and although I’ve never actually been able to stomach heart or brains for psychological reasons, even though I know now how nutritious they are, I still love liver and kidneys the way she used to cook them — with onions and cream and served on hot buttered toast.
Liver is, without exaggeration, one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet and a true ‘superfood’. For example, a single serving of chicken or lamb liver provides exceptional amounts of true vitamin A, which supports immune function and wound healing; vitamin B12, essential for nerve function and red blood cell production; folate; iron in its most easily absorbable form; copper; zinc; and CoQ10, a compound that plays an important role in cellular energy production and helps to keep your heart healthy. It also provides good quality, easily digestible protein which is exactly what a healing body needs most.
Kidneys are just as impressive, and in some respects I actually prefer them to liver, as the flavour is milder, particularly with lamb kidneys. Like liver, they are high in B12, iron, and zinc, and are a particularly good source of selenium, an important antioxidant mineral that supports immune function and thyroid health. Both are also among the most affordable cuts of meat available, which matters when you are stocking a recovery kitchen on a budget.
However even with all of these nutritional advantages, some people still object to liver and kidneys’ texture and flavour, so to successfully incorporate them into your diet when you’re not used to them, it’s important to learn how to properly prepare and cook them.
Liver needs to be sliced fairly thinly, and if you soak the slices in milk for an hour beforehand it removes some of its strong flavour. Kidneys need to have their core removed, which is the white fatty tissue in the centre as this can make them taste tough.
Here is how I prepare kidneys: cut each kidney in half lengthwise, then use a small pair of scissors to snip out the core. Once that's done, cut each half in half again width wise, so you have four pieces per kidney. This size cooks quickly and evenly, which is important — kidneys become tough and dry if overcooked, so speed is everything. I always cook them in butter, and if I’m using onions as well, I cook the onions first. Once the onions are soft and beginning to colour, I add the kidneys and cook over a medium heat, turning a couple of times, until they are just cooked through. Then pour over a splash of cream, let it bubble down for a minute to make a small amount of sauce, and season well with salt, pepper, and a little fresh thyme if you have it.
Served on toasted sourdough bread, this is one of my favourite lunches, especially in the winter.
For those who remain unconvinced by the idea of liver as a centrepiece ingredient, there are many ways that it can be incorporated into dishes in ways that are entirely undetectable, as long as you don't use too much. The rule I follow is no more than 20% liver to 80% other meat, which gives you all the nutritional benefit without any strong flavour.
NB — try blitzing a packet of liver in the food processor and then freezing in silicon mini-muffin trays, so that you’ll always have a small amount on hand.
The dishes that work best for ‘hiding’ liver are:
Bolognese — finely chop or blitz a small amount of chicken or lamb liver and add it to your mince at the beginning of cooking. It will blend completely into the sauce and add a depth of flavour that people often notice without being able to identify.
Meatballs — the same principle applies. Add finely chopped liver to your mince mixture before shaping, and cook as normal. The texture and flavour are entirely absorbed by the other ingredients.
Burgers — a small amount of blitzed liver added to good quality beef mince makes for a noticeably richer, more flavourful burger, and again the liver itself is completely undetectable.
Slow-cooked stews and casseroles — a small amount of liver added early in a long, slow braise will dissolve almost entirely into the sauce, enriching both the flavour and the nutritional profile considerably.
Chicken liver pâté
And now for the recipe that even offal-sceptics tend to enjoy, because home-made chicken liver pâté is infinitely superior to the bland, processed supermarket varieties. This is the recipe from my book, which I adapted slightly to remove the alcohol that I occasionally use and which is best avoided during recovery.
Serves 6-8 as a starter, or keeps in the fridge for up to a week
Ingredients:
2-3T olive oil
½ large onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
500g chicken livers, trimmed of any sinew and roughly cut into halves or thirds
2 teaspoons Dijon or wholegrain mustard
1T good quality balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1T sherry or red wine vinegar
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice, plus the zest of one orange
1t sea salt plus freshly ground black pepper to taste
2T cream
75g cold butter, roughly chopped
Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a saucepan until golden but not brown. Tip in the livers and continue cooking until they are brown, but still slightly pink in the middle.
Add the mustard, thyme leaves, and vinegars to the pan, and cook for a few minutes, then add the orange juice, zest and cream.
Cook over medium heat until the liquid has reduced by half, then tip the contents of the pan into a food processor and add the seasoning and butter. Blend until you have a smooth consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides of the food processor as necessary. Taste and adjust the seasonings, then spoon into one or two pâté-style containers and refrigerate for several hours before serving.
Spread the pâté thickly on traditionally made sourdough bread, toast, or crisp cucumber and apple slices; use as a stuffing for portobello mushrooms; spread onto warm steaks, lamb chops or an omelette; or add a little to a broth, soup, or stew for additional flavour and a nutritional boost.
Note: Because the liver is one of the body’s most important detoxification organs, choosing organic livers helps ensure your pâté contains as few residual toxins as possible, giving you all the nutritional benefits without unwanted chemicals.
If you’re not regularly cooking with offal, I really hope that this article has inspired you to give both liver and kidneys a try — whether that's a batch of pâté, a bolognese sauce enriched with a little blitzed liver, or, if you're feeling adventurous, a pan of kidneys on sourdough toast for lunch one winter's day. Your grandmother would thoroughly approve!