My Baby Is Back. My Baby Who Is A Serial Killer Who Eats People - Homage to Hannibal - Beef Liver With Parsley, Onions and Lemon

You know you want it, grrrrrrrl

Hannibal Season 3 is here! It's here! Sharpen your blades! I will get around to Lomo Saltado from Season 2, but I didn't want to heat up the place with the oven for the fries, so settled on beef liver. I saw it the other day at the funky Asian market.

I admit, I had a little trouble envisioning Mads as the Sexiest Man in Denmark at the beginning of S1. I think it was the hair, because I completely fell for his characterization, gray matter and uber-cool wardrobe from the get go. Even when he'd wear PLAID. The man did for plaid what bacon does to salad. Or maybe it was an Anthony Hopkins block. Not in a "Silence of the Lambs is sacred" way, but I do have it pretty bad for Sir Tony. But Fannibals everywhere were having dreams about him. It only took a few episodes and then I started to swoon.

Salute

I hate, hate, hate Bedelia Du Maurier for stealing away with my Baby, and seemingly becoming completely fluent in Italian in days. Or at least fluent enough to order two bottles of wine wherever she goes. I deserve the tub in the palazzo and the white truffle more!!! But I love whoever named her for the great writer Daphne. Fans of the movie Rebecca know who she is, but did you know she also wrote the short story that Hitch-Hold-The-Cock filmed as The Birds? And did you just love the movie Hitchcock??? I mean, hello, Dame Helen and Sir Anthony? See, my friends? We have squared the circle! You know, with the Hitchcock/Hannibal reference? Get it? No? Ok, never mind.

Back to Daphne briefly...she also wrote a story called Don't Look Now, which was made into a movie in the early 70s, with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. It is a great flick and well known for a sex scene controversy that reached Last Tango In Paris altitude. Cunnilingus in cinema? Is it just me, or did it take a long time afterward to have the media burst over that particular sex act again in Blue Valentine? In Hollywood, not only do ladies get disrespected when they age, they also can't have decent foreplay. Harrumph!

Whoa, we went Six Degrees from Mads and Tony and Daphne and Donald all the way to Kiefer Sutherland?? Christ, Flatliners???? Yup, Bacon.

Is there going to be any food any time soon?

Oh, yeah, Hannibal. Liver. OK, I'd never made beef liver on my own, only with Grandma. When I craved liver, I usually made chicken livers or bought liverwurst or pate. Hoity Toity! So, it turns out my liver slicing skills are not up to snuff. Next time, I will take more care around arteries and connective tissue. There were a few pieces that I just chopped fine and made sort of a country pate-ish mash post-cooking. Yummy, but not pretty.

In this recipe I was hooked by the parsley and lemon. Onions are a big duh, but I had a great big bunch of parsley from the farmers market spree, and I always have lemon. This was very yummy, but next time, I'd add pancetta and do a gremolata for topping. And of course be more meticulous with my prep. I served this with simple sauteed greens with garlic and crushed red pepper, which in this case was Lacinato kale and red chard.

Mangia!

Beef Liver With Parsley-Onions & Lemon

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Italian Classics “Sautéed Calf’s Liver and Onions”

Ingredients:

2 large onions, sliced thin

3 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee (Use ghee. Who's got time to make clarified butter??)

1 pound of calf, beef, or lamb liver, cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick

2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of one lemon

1/2 cup parsley, minced

salt & pepper

NOTE: If you don’t have ghee, use all coconut oil or your preferred fat.

Directions:

Place 1 tablespoon ghee in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. When it shimmers, add the onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix with a wooden spoon so the onions are evenly coated in the fat; sauté about 5 minutes until they release their juice. Reduce heat to medium and cook until browned and soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the onions to a bowl and save for later.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon coconut oil; heat until shimmering.

Sprinkle the liver generously with salt and pepper, then lay the pieces flat in the pan in a single layer. Try to leave a little breathing room around them and cook in two batches, if necessary. Cook undisturbed for 60-90 seconds, until the first side is browned around the edges. Flip each piece with tongs and cook the second side, 60-90 seconds, until browned on the edges. Remove the liver to a plate while you finish the onions.

Place 1 tablespoon ghee in the hot pan, along with the cooked onions, parsley, and lemon juice. Stir with a wooden spoon and sauté until hot.

To serve, place the liver on a plate and mound the caramelized parsley-onions on top. Sprinkle with lemon zest.