Making Liver/organ meats Palatable

[Henrietta23]

Scrapple!!! Yum! I have a friend here who travels several times a year to Bethlehem PA. She would always bring me back some scrapple. But now we know it contains gluten. Bummer. I should see if I can find a recipe. I grew up with Mom putting fried chicken livers on my plate twice a month or so. I'd sit there watching them grow cold being told I couldn't leave the table until I ate them. Wasn't going to happen! Dad insisted that all meat be thoroughly cooked so you could have bounced these things like super balls. I didn't like meat much as a kid.....
Anyway, I also love liverwurst. Just found some all natural from Whole Foods. Yum!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I did a search for offal on here and came up with these threads. I think I'm going to have to try the heart recipe. The liver dumplings sound pretty good too, but its got gluten. Hmmmm... potato based liver dumplings? Hmmm
The deer heart we had sometime this past year was awesome, sliced paper thin & pan fried in a little bacon grease until crispy.

It sounds offally good to me
Liver Dumplings
Stuffed Beef Heart

But hands down the simmered in broth does it for me. It did not have the normal texture or aftertaste of liver. And the gizzards, yes, Bubbling Brooks, simply buttery!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Ok, aside from a small skull, what is considered poor facial conformation?

Never had liver before.. But I'd be willing to try!
Aside from liver and gizzards, what else can you eat?

Do a google search for pictures of people in the late 1800s.
Take a look at how the face is formed. The wider jaw. Eyes set further apart. Full sets of teeth without crowding.

The actual size is not at stake, but the way it is balanced.

The most interesting thing is, especially with woman, is that a small/tight head/face, indicates the same type of pelvis.

If you have read the book of Genesis, you would have read a very interesting thing. When the Israelite midwives got in trouble with the Egyptians for not killing the baby boys when they were born, their response was that the woman were vigorous in birth and rarely needed them.
In contrast, the egyptions were refining foods in similiar fashion to today, and would have been needing more help.
You can see their facial structure in their art. Thin Model like faces.

ETA: My mother ate a very SAD diet. Me and my 5 siblings all have thinner faces and very crowded teeth. Something that she does not have, nor did her parents.

 

[ORChick]

Scrapple!!! Yum! I have a friend here who travels several times a year to Bethlehem PA. She would always bring me back some scrapple. But now we know it contains gluten. Bummer. I should see if I can find a recipe. I grew up with Mom putting fried chicken livers on my plate twice a month or so. I'd sit there watching them grow cold being told I couldn't leave the table until I ate them. Wasn't going to happen! Dad insisted that all meat be thoroughly cooked so you could have bounced these things like super balls. I didn't like meat much as a kid.....
Anyway, I also love liverwurst. Just found some all natural from Whole Foods. Yum!

Henrietta, I know nothing about gluten free diet; does corn contain gluten? Buckwheat? Scrapple is made with cornmeal, the German recipe that it derives from is made with buckwheat. How about oats? There is something from the Ohio area, called Goetta, which is similar to scrapple, and made with oats. (I have recipes if anyone is interested)
Personally, I am very fond of properly cooked liver, but it is so easy to make it badly. My mother used to make steak and kidney pie, which I hated as a child, but make myself now, when I can locate kidneys. Heart, I think, is more of a texture difference than flavor; grinding it, and adding it to ground beef - start with a small amount! - should get past that. To find recipes look in old cookbooks, especially foreign ones if you can find them.

 

[Henrietta23]

Scrapple!!! Yum! I have a friend here who travels several times a year to Bethlehem PA. She would always bring me back some scrapple. But now we know it contains gluten. Bummer. I should see if I can find a recipe. I grew up with Mom putting fried chicken livers on my plate twice a month or so. I'd sit there watching them grow cold being told I couldn't leave the table until I ate them. Wasn't going to happen! Dad insisted that all meat be thoroughly cooked so you could have bounced these things like super balls. I didn't like meat much as a kid.....
Anyway, I also love liverwurst. Just found some all natural from Whole Foods. Yum!

Henrietta, I know nothing about gluten free diet; does corn contain gluten? Buckwheat? Scrapple is made with cornmeal, the German recipe that it derives from is made with buckwheat. How about oats? There is something from the Ohio area, called Goetta, which is similar to scrapple, and made with oats. (I have recipes if anyone is interested)
Personally, I am very fond of properly cooked liver, but it is so easy to make it badly. My mother used to make steak and kidney pie, which I hated as a child, but make myself now, when I can locate kidneys. Heart, I think, is more of a texture difference than flavor; grinding it, and adding it to ground beef - start with a small amount! - should get past that. To find recipes look in old cookbooks, especially foreign ones if you can find them.

The PA pre-made scrapple does contain wheat gluten. Corn would be fine. Oats are usually cross contaminated. Buckwheat is okay too. See, I DO need to make my own!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

My mother used to make steak and kidney pie, which I hated as a child, but make myself now, when I can locate kidneys.

Could you share your pie recipe/method? That's one bit I've never been able to do so it tastes good.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Scrapple!!! Yum! I have a friend here who travels several times a year to Bethlehem PA. She would always bring me back some scrapple. But now we know it contains gluten. Bummer. I should see if I can find a recipe. I grew up with Mom putting fried chicken livers on my plate twice a month or so. I'd sit there watching them grow cold being told I couldn't leave the table until I ate them. Wasn't going to happen! Dad insisted that all meat be thoroughly cooked so you could have bounced these things like super balls. I didn't like meat much as a kid.....
Anyway, I also love liverwurst. Just found some all natural from Whole Foods. Yum!

Henrietta, I know nothing about gluten free diet; does corn contain gluten? Buckwheat? Scrapple is made with cornmeal, the German recipe that it derives from is made with buckwheat. How about oats? There is something from the Ohio area, called Goetta, which is similar to scrapple, and made with oats. (I have recipes if anyone is interested)
Personally, I am very fond of properly cooked liver, but it is so easy to make it badly. My mother used to make steak and kidney pie, which I hated as a child, but make myself now, when I can locate kidneys. Heart, I think, is more of a texture difference than flavor; grinding it, and adding it to ground beef - start with a small amount! - should get past that. To find recipes look in old cookbooks, especially foreign ones if you can find them.

Gluten is in Wheat, Spelt, Kamut, Barley and Rye.
All other grains are safe on an Celiacs diet.

Corn should be prepared properly though. Soaked for 2 weeks in lime water, then cooked.
If you search out real Masa Harina, you will be getting a good cornmeal. None of the nutrients are available to the body without proper soaking. If you look up Pelagra, you can find out what corn can do without proper prep.

 

[ORChick]

OK, here's a recipe for Pannhas from one of my German cookbooks. This book is from the area just north of where the Pennsylvania Dutch originally emigrated from.
Disclaimer: I have not made this myself, as DH is not fond of it.
This recipe calls for liverwurst and blood sausage; another uses beef and pork meat. I think the point is to use what you have.

Pannhas - German Buckwheat Loaf with Meat

1/4 lb bacon
2 onions
1 qt good meat broth
Approx 3/4 lb, total, good liverwurst and blood sausage (from a German deli if possible); OR 1 to 1 1/2 lbs beef and/or pork (use stew/potroast type meat)
Optional: various veggies to flavor the broth - celery, carrot, parsnip, onion etc
1 lb buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp ground cloves (or, I should think, a couple of whole cloves cooked in the broth, and strained out)
Salt, pepper, marjoram

If using pork and/or beef: cook the meat with the vegetables in enough water to cover - start with cold water, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook slowly until the meat is very tender. Remove the meat, and shred it. Strain the stock, and use a quart of it for the recipe.

Cut the bacon into cubes, and dice the onions. Render out some of the fat from the bacon, and fry the bacon and onions together. Add to the broth in a large pot. If using the sausage: remove the casings and add the sausage meat, in small pieces, to the broth; otherwise add the shredded meat. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, season with salt, pepper, and marjoram. Stirring continuously sprinkle in the buckwheat flour. Over very low heat, and stirring occasionally, allow to cook to a thick porridge - 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. Pour it into a greased loaf pan (or two, depending), allow to cool. If desired, cover with a layer of melted lard, and then some sort of other cover - wax paper, foil; it should keep, refrigerated, for a couple of weeks (or freeze it). To serve: cut the loaf into slices, and fry till crisp and brown. In Cologne this would be served with black bread, sugar beet syrup (molasses), and mashed potatoes; I think I would want some crisp bacon and maple syrup.

ETA: I can't find confirmation for this, but I imagine this must have been made originally with rabbit/hare. Pann = pan; has = Hase = hare. Or maybe it is just a culinary joke, making buckwheat mush out to be something else.

 

[ORChick]

Scrapple, as far as I can tell, is basically the same method as the Pannhas above using cornmeal. Some recipes I've seen use part cornmeal, part buckwheat flour, which confirms in my mind that scrapple is just the Pannhas that the German settlers knew from home, but made with the grain that was common in their new home: corn. Google scrapple, and lots of sites/recipes come up.

Goetta, the other one I mentioned, was apparently brought to the Ohio area by Northern German immigrants. Again, basically the same thing, but made with steel cut oats. This one I have tried, and liked, but DH wasn't willing to give it a go.

 

[ORChick]

My mother used to make steak and kidney pie, which I hated as a child, but make myself now, when I can locate kidneys.

Could you share your pie recipe/method? That's one bit I've never been able to do so it tastes good.

I don't have a recipe as such, but here's more or less what I do:

Make a single pie crust (for the top; too soggy to use a bottom crust IMO), or use puff pastry. (Or skip the pastry entirely, and serve with mashed potatoes - but then, of course, it isn't a pie )
I think in England they usually use beef kidney, but that can be very strong. Veal or lamb kidneys are better, though I usually use pork as that is what I can get. Cut the kidneys into bite size pieces, and soak them in milk (or in water with a large dash of vinegar) for an hour or so, or while preparing the rest. (If you haven't dealt with kidneys before you might want to refer to a basic cookbook as to method)
Cut stewing beef into pieces, and brown in a pan. Add some diced onion, and mushrooms if you like. Add some good beef broth, not a lot, and simmer, covered, till the meat is tender. Season to taste with salt, pepper, herbs, maybe a dash of Worcestershire - this is basically just a beef stew. Add the drained kidney pieces shortly before the meat is to your liking, long enough that it cooks through, but not so long that it is overcooked - remember that the pie still needs to spend a bit of time in the oven. Thicken the sauce slightly with flour or cornstarch. Put the meat etc into a deep pie plate, and add gravy to your liking. Cover with the pastry, cutting in slits so steam can escape, and brushing with some milk or an egg glaze. Bake till the pastry is golden.