Liver & Onions - A Recipe From A Coalcracker In The Kitchen

Liver & Onions from A Coalcracker In The Kitchen
FULL  RECIPE AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

The recipe, and instructions, below are all from a post from A CoalCracker In the Kitchen.  After her death, her blog was removed from the internet.  This is a saved version of her page, with an added printable version of her recipe at the bottom.

Whether you love it, hate it, or won’t even try it, liver and onions is a very “Dutchie” and Coal Region dish. You will find it offered in many diners and restaurants. 

I love it, but I prefer calves liver which I think is more tender than beef liver. I like it thinly sliced, I soak it in milk before cooking to take away that “metallic” bitter taste it can have, and I take care  not to overcook it.

I love mine smothered with caramelized onions (I sometimes add bacon) and I make a gravy to serve with it. Nestled next to a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes, liver and onions says “home” to me.

In Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, use was made of a butchered animal from nose to tail. A small amount of liver provides well over 100% of the recommended daily allowance for many essential nutrients. It is also rich in high-quality protein, low in calories and is a great source of iron. Liver is cheap and readily available from grocery stores and butchers.

An often heard concern about eating liver is that it contains toxins, however, the liver does not store toxins. Rather, its job is to process toxins and make them safe or turn them into something that can be safely removed from the body.

If you have not tried liver and onions before, or if you were forced to eat it as a kid and it brings back traumatic memories, give this version a try. Remember, rinse it, soak it in milk, brown it nicely on both sides, but do not overcook it. 

It is safe to eat liver that retains just a tint of pink on the inside. Test by slicing into a piece and checking for done-ness when cooking.

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Index Of Coalcracker Recipes on This Blog
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-coalcraker-in-kitchen.html

From Lori's now archived blog:
What is a “Coalcracker” and what the heck are you doing in the kitchen?
“Coalcracker“: Affectionate term for a resident of Northeastern Pennsylvania, but particularly of the Anthracite (coal) Region (Scranton to the Lehigh Valley to Schuylkill County).

With the expansion of the mining and railroad industries. English, Welsh, Irish and German (the “Dutch” (Deutsch) in Pennsylvania Dutch) immigrants formed a large portion of the population, followed by Polish, Slovak, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Italian, Russian and Lithuanian immigrants.

The influence of these immigrant populations is still strongly felt in the region, with various towns possessing pronounced ethnic characters and cuisine. Throw in some influence from the Pennsylvania Dutch of the Schuylkill County and Lehigh Valley areas and you have a sampling of Coal Region comfort foods!

The Coal Region is a historically important Anthracite (“hard coal”) coal-mining area in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the central Appalachian Mountains, comprising Lackawanna, Luzerne, Columbia, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and the extreme northeast corner of Dauphin counties.