Receta Springtime Saute of Lamb’s Liver: From Unfashionably Late to Trend-Setting in the Blink of an Eye
Feb 9th, 2012 by Jonny & Amy
Rarely on time, and never on trend, we are perennially late to the party. Yes, we may have been blogging about offal since way before David Chang made it cool, but we have yet to purchase our first ironic message tee featuring butchery terminology or get our forearms inked with a selection of cutlery. This may be even more surprising given that we live in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, where the hardcore of Williamsburg’s hipsters would move if only they were cool enough. But if further illustration of our being behind the times were necessary, look no further than our brand new facebook page, now only a week old (feel free to “like” us, as the kids say).
It’s also very typical of us to cook unseasonably based entirely on whimsy. We made the heaviest Colombian dish on a sweltering 95 degree day, and a ceviche in November. However, in a radical departure from our conventional untimeliness, we recently got way ahead of ourselves (and everyone else) and made a wonderful spring time saute of lamb’s liver and baby carrots with an anchovy-rosemary butter sauce.
A dash at classic French technique, plenty of butter and some excellent early season baby vegetables made it a perfect dish for the mild winter we’re having this year which, regardless of the prognostications of Punxatawney Phil, has provoked our little patch of crocuses into bloom during the first week in February.
Saute of Lamb’s Liver and Baby Veg
(feeds 2 for a light dinner or a robust appetizer)
Ingredients:
- 1lb cleaned lamb’s liver, cut into 2inch wide strips
- 1/2lb young carrots, peeled and trimmed
- 1 handful pattypan squash
- 1 stick (4oz) unsalted butter
- 1 pint vegetable stock
- 4 or 5 salt cured anchovies
- 1/2 sprig rosemary
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Recipe:
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add carrots and pattypans. Season well with salt and black pepper. Saute lightly for two minutes. Add half stock, bring to a simmer and cover for four minutes or until vegetables are tender. Kill heat but keep lid on to keep veggies warm.
In another saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat, and after seasoning liver slices well with salt and plenty of black pepper, saute until taking color on one side, about 2 mins. Turn them over and cook for another two mins. Remove to a warm plate. (This should give you liver that’s still slightly pink in the center. If you like it grey all the way through, cook it another minute.)
In a mortar and pestle add chopped up anchovies and rosemary with remaining softened butter and pound into a paste. Slowly add lemon juice and keep pounding to make a thickish emulsion sauce.
Plate vegetables and liver spooning braising liquid from vegetables over everything. Top with anchovy-rosemary butter sauce and enjoy with a glass of red cotes du rhone.