Liver – I Am Finally Going to Eat It

I have avoided it my whole life. My grandmother used to eat it and gently try to persuade me to try it when I was little. NO WAY! Conceptual issues. Then came college biology and dissection. Organs are straight gross, so I changed my major from Biology to English, and then I needed a Masters Degree to get a better job. I chose Environmental Planning. That way I could still work on environmental issues, apply the work of the biologists, and not get my hands in the guts!

Fast forward 20 years and here I am…almost 43 and still recovering from a depleted body due to lack of nutrition and proper rest, especially after having a child.

I recently had a fantastic visit with Ken, my Dr. of Oriental Medicine www.orientalhealthsolutions.com. He treated me for almost three hours because my heart flutters were back, but at a slight level. See She who has health has hope… to learn how they began. Ken said that I am still recovering from lack of nutrition and proper rest. It takes a long time to get as depleted as I got and it takes a long time to heal. The very bad miscarriage I had last year was also a setback (see Health, Hope and Everything.

I have been healing for two years, I am about 70 percent recovered according to Ken, and I have a ways to go. I feel fantastic, so I am unable to imagine what the next improvements will bring to me. For now, I am focusing on rebuilding my blood. Ken says that my current heart flutters are caused by my blood still not properly feeding my heart. I have moxibustion points to activate every day for 10 days and an herbal tea remedy for building blood that he mixed for me. The moxibustion prescribed for me involves stimulating acupuncture points with heat to get the blood moving. Ken marked the points on my feet, leg and arm that I am to stimulate with the heat from incense.

Next, I asked about eating liver, even though I knew that he would say, yes, that is a great idea! We talked about how to prepare it: sauté onions in oil (I will use extra virgin olive I think) until they are translucent, add the liver, and sauté quickly and remove. He eats his medium rare. The less cooked the better, as it makes the enzymes and nutrients more available for the body. Then he reminded me that native Americans and other native cultures eat it raw right after a kill because it is such a healthful food.

Now that I have posted my intention, I am going to have to follow through. I will report back after this weekend after the event is over.

Comments

[Maria Droujkova]

I have a "liver for the squeamish" recipe you can try. Sort of little tiny liver pancakes.

Put some onion into the processor and keep it going till the onion is finely shredded. Add egg, spices, salt and liver. Keep processing until it turns into a more or less uniform batter.

Preheat butter or any other frying fat in a skillet and spoon out the batter, about 1tbsp at a time. It takes a very short time to fry those "pancakes" on one side. Turn them over with a fork, fry the other side and remove.

[Erin Henry]

Laura,
I like butter instead of evoo. I swoon at the smell of onions in butter. Let them go long and slow (like a half hour!) and get caramelized and sweet. I think butter works great for the liver too.
I love the tip to not cook the liver through. I have been thinking that would taste better. (I'm going to try pork liver for the first time tomorrow...I'll be thinking of you!)