Liver, especially from small ruminants like lamb, goat, and venison will be stronger tasting than cow or pork, but Chef has a few tricks for smoothing out the flavors. The first is soaking or leeching. The livers are cut into pieces, and then soaked in liquid for 24-48 hours. The soaking helps draw out aromas and flavors, and is the first step of “smoothing out” the liver.
Chefs second trick is bacon. Everyones favorite smoked meat does double duty here: adding fat to the dumplings that would otherwise be very lean, and adding smoked flavor–a great way to help make the liver taste more subtle. If you’ve ever enjoyed braunschweiger sausage, the smokey-rich flavor of these dumplings will taste similar.
Once the liver is soaked, the pieces are ground up with lamb bacon until smooth in a food processor with an egg, a few spices, and finally breadcrumbs, then the mixture is chilled for a bit to allow the breadcrumbs to work their magic.
From there, the dumplings can be formed into any shape you like, simmered in water until they float, then added to soup, or baked with a dusting of parmesan and breadcrumbs. Pictured in this post are two versions: a vegetable soup with celery root and kale, and a simple lamb broth. Give them a try the next time you find yourself with some extra liver.
We use our homemade lamb bacon here, and it’s slightly different than pork bacon. If you’d like to substitute pork bacon, which is harder to puree until smooth, you’ll want to chop it very fine, and probably use a blender to get a very smooth puree, or start it off chopped, pulsing in a food processor, transferring it to the blender with the liver afterwords.
This recipe is by chef Alan Bergo. A chef from Minnesota, Alan is a culinary industry veteran, former executive chef of acclaimed Lucia’s Restaurant, and the Salt Cellar. Founder of the website Forager Chef, he’s best known as a respected authority on Midwestern foraging. Learn more about Alan and his hunt for mushrooms, wild and obscure foods at Forager Chef.
Shepherd Song Farm: Grass to table. We raise lambs & goats traditionally, humanely and sustainably. 100% Grass Fed, Pasture Raised, Never Confined, no Hormones, Grains or Animal Byproducts. Born, raised and processed in the U.S.A. Good for you and good for the environment.
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