Recipe: Enjoy a health boosting supper with a nod to Cork’s food past

WITH the turn of the season and the dark nights upon us, we can officially say its winter! Time to fire up the inner central heating with some health boosting food.

Offal has long been a mainstay of the diet in Cork, going back to the times when the best cuts of meat were exported and cuts like liver, kidneys, tripe and drisheen were kept for local eating. Hence the tradition of these cuts, especially in the city.

I’m turning to lamb’s liver this weekend to provide some much needed nutrition for what looks like being a difficult winter in the health department.

Time to boost the immune system with protein for muscle growth and development and Vitamin A, important for maintaining the healthy tissue of skin and inner organs – particularly lungs and airways, most important in this pandemic. Vitamin A also supports good vision, particularly in poor conditions as we have now with the dark months upon us.

I’ve used a simple classic presentation of Irish lamb’s liver, (you could also use chicken livers which are even cheaper and super nutritious) quickly pan fried then served with a lemon sage butter. 

A great accompaniment to this is a big bowl of buttery mashed potato that the lemon butter can soak into! Serve greens of choice – spinach or broccoli are good – on the side.

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LAMB’S LIVER WITH SAGE AND LEMON BUTTER

Ingredients (Serves 4)

750g fresh sliced new Irish lamb’s liver

Flour or cornflour for dusting 

1 tbsp olive oil 

Knob of butter 

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

1 bunch fresh scallions, trimmed and chopped, to finish 

LEMON AND SAGE BUTTER

75g butter Few whole sage leaves

Finely grated zest of a large lemon 

Juice of half a lemon 

Method:

• Rinse liver and pat dry. Remove any large tubes if present.

• Dust each slice lightly with flour or cornflour and shake off the excess.  Heat  oil with butter in a non-stick frying pan.  Add liver and cook to sear on both sides.
• Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper Turn down the heat and cover. Gently fry for a few moments till the liver is cooked through, but still with slight pinkiness to the meat.
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a separate saucepan till golden but not browning.
• Add the sage, lemon zest and lemon juice and heat through for a minute. Season.
• Arrange the liver on plates and drizzle over the melted butter sauce. Scatter with chopped scallions to serve

For more recipes by Di Curtin and our columnists, such as Mercy Fenton and Kate Ryan, check out EchoLive.ie