I know that many people hate eating offal, but there are still some people who really enjoy eating it like me. I love them as long as they are cooked well. Liver is my favorite and we cook it in different styles. However, we shouldn’t buy liver at any butcher, experts say that we should buy liver from a butcher we know. There may be butchers who try to sell a liver of an unhealthy lamb or veal. You know, liver is a very vulnerable organ, and it’s easily effected by a disease the animal has. So if we’re not sure about the healthiness of the animal, we shouldn’t buy. Or if the liver is officially approved as healthy, there is no reason for not buying and cooking. Luckily enough, our butcher here always work with a vet.
In the eastern part of Tukey (in cities of Diyarbakır, Van, Şanlıurfa, etc). Believe it or not, they serve sish kebab or liver saute and they have a plenty of customers.This is associated with people living there. Having liver for breakfast is something very odd for us, but I have some friends living there and it’s so ordinary for them. To tell the truth, I’m open to different eating cultures and habits, so I can try it one day if I visit one of those cities.
Not for breakfast but as a main dish of dinner or lunch, we sometimes fry it and call it “Albanian Liver”, sometimes we saute it, sometimes we grill liver like sish kebab. I love all of these versions. I wrote about Albanian Liver a few weeks ago, this time it is Liver Saute’s turn.
Ingredients
- 200g liver
- 1 big onion, chopped
- 2 green pepper, chopped
- 2 middle sized tomatoes, diced
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Wash the liver and chop it in cubes. Heat the oil in a pan and toss the chopped live in it. Stir it for about five minutes.
Then add tomatoes first, cover the pan and cook it over medium heat for another five minutes.
Finally add onion and peppers, and season it with spices. Cover the pan again and cook it over the lowest heat for 10 minutes.
You can garnish it with greens like watercress, serve it with rice pilaf and season salad.
Having Dinner Together
It is so important for the duck family to have dinner together. The meaning behind it is more than eating. They miss each other during day time and they look forward to having dinner together. They sit around the table and share their feelings and experiences of the day while eating. Therefore, they never prefer having dinner alone. They always wait for the other to sit for the dinner. Especially mom and dad love this time of the day as they have the chance of talking and listening to their child. If he has a problem, they look for a solution together. The child duck is aware of the importance of this special time, so he always prefers to ask permission for anything when they all sit for dinner and start to eat scrumptious dishes of the day. He is so clever that he knows they can’t say ‘no’ with the effect of tasty dishes on his mom and dad. (drawing by mom)
20 Comments on "Liver Saute"
I love eating a variety of offal – liver, tongue, heart, tripe – but I never actually cook them myself as some of them require quite a bit of patience to prepare properly. However, I’ll be the first one to ask for seconds!
Your picture and story are perfect illustrations of the importance of eating together as a family. Studies have shown that children who grow up with this tradition tend to be more self-assured, confident and inquisitive than those whose meal habits are less structured and less family-oriented. I’m grateful to my parents for insisting that we all eat together at the same time every night. Although my husband and I share our meals together, I do miss having even more family around.
BTW, my husband – who is not very fond of liver – just came in and looked over my shoulder. Seeing your dish, he said, “That looks good!” When I told him it was liver, he actually said he wouldn’t mind trying it. I’d better print it out now!
I do like duck liver! lol! And various pate’s. But this looks really good!!! (MUCH better than the rendition I tasted in childhood…eeek!) Great blog!!
This looks very interesting. I can’t say that I’m a big liver fan, but if I had to eat it, this is the way I’d want it!
I haven’t eaten liver for a long time but I used to love it as a kid and yes, sometimes, we would have liver as part of a fry for breakfast, so I don’t think that odd at all
Good point about buying from a reputable source. Love the duck story! Dinner together is so important.
Tangled Noddle- I love all kinds too, but we only cook liver at home. We eat others outside. To tell the truth, I wouldn’t expect anyone to love offal from people not from Turkey. I don’t see offal in food blogs much. That’s the reason, so you made me surprised. And happy! And about eating together, I certainly agree on those studies. I hope your husband loves it when you cook. And please thank him for me, I’m glad he loved the picture and accepts trying liver saute.
the pink pepper corn- Oh no! These ducks shouldn’t hear what you say.
Sara- I know if one doesn’t like liver, it’s so hard to change his mind.
Daily Spud- Really? I can’t believe someone else outside Turkey have liver for breakfast. I myself should try it, too.
Lisa- You know buying all kinds of meat requires that reputable source, but offal needs more.
I don’t eat liver much and I know it’s good, too. I think I need to introduce it to my diet more.
I have to say I did not like liver growing up but it is something that has grown on me. I made liver pate for a Christmas party and it was ahuge hit. Your dish definily looks wonderful.
I love your illustration! I’ve never eaten liver. But I enjoyed your post and learning more about it.
Hey! I love your blog. It’s great the way you combine your opinions not only about food but life with all your recipes. I’m giving this one thumbs up!! Keep up the good work!
Zerrin, I am with you about liver:) I love it too! We make liver saute in Azerbaijan too, very similir to your version and we call it jiz-biz:) a funny name:) Will try your recipe out too. Looks to good to miss.
I like liver and other offal too
This is an interesting way of cooking liver that I’ll have to try next time.
I’m from the Philippines and offal is no stranger to our cuisine. Check out this post that lists some of our favorites
http://pinoycook.net/lasang-pinoy-9-offal-in-filipino-dishes/
I also love liver! We haven’t had it at home in a while as we are watching our cholesterol, but I really should make some soon! This version is a delicious preparation!
I’ve been brought up with offals, and I love them!
Liver is a superfood: full of iron!
I remember when I was pregnant with my only son, my doctor advised me to eat liver! I was a bit anemic, so he suggested to either eat spinach or liver or both to help remedy the problem. Good to see that there are a fair amount of people out there who like liver too!
Your liver dish looks so lovely, but I don’t like liver,….
Zerrin, yaptigin gibi soganli ciger guzel oluyor. Izgarasi da oyle. Turkiye’nin bazi sehirlerinde kahvaltida ciger yenildigini hic bilmiyordum. Ayrica bu “Having Dinner Together” ordek hikayesi cok anlamli. Bence de beraber yemek yemek cok onemli. O resmi sen mi cizdin?
Jenn- when you start to love it, liver becomes one of your favorites.
Oyster- Liver is a perfect choice for a Christmas party.I’m sure it was all gone at the end of the night.
Reeni- Thank you so much. These illustrations are made by mom, so I’ll tell her you like it.
Mirza- Thank you for visiting my blog. I’m trying to do my best.
Feride- I’ve never heard that funny name, “jiz-biz”. But this name is so similar to our “cız-bız”, grilled meat or meatballs. And I’m sure that Azerbaijan liver saute is delicious too.
JMom- How nice finding other people loving offal. And there is a great list of offal in Philippines cuisine in that link. Thanks for that.
Natasha- I agree on not eating liver too often, but once in two weeks is OK for us.
Christelle- I love hearing the sentence “I love offal”. And yes, liver is full of iron, we shouldn’t refuse it.
rowena- I didn’t know that we can substitute spinach with liver. And I knew that pregnant women shouldn’t eat offal. Thanks for that info. I see that liver is an exception.
Sophie- Thank you Sophie, maybe you’ll change your mind one day.
Nihal- Evet yazıda bahsettiğim şehirlerde kahvaltı salonlarında ciğer pişiyor. Bana da ilginç geliyor ama kesinlikle bi gün deneyeceğim. Sitedeki çizimler eşimin annesine ait.
Esinin annesi cok yetenekliymis. Ne guzel cizimlerini seninle paylasiyor!
Even my husband has started loving liver since we chop it first and saute with onions. We often add that to our veggie dish to make a one pot meal. This time of year they are Ratatouille type mixes.