Looking for ways to love liver? Try this recipe for Turkish-style fried liver and onions and you'll surely become a fan.
In Turkey, fried calf or lamb liver is served on a bed of tasty red onions, parsley and spices. It's a popular "meze," or starter, especially in taverns served together with "raki," the anise-flavored drink similar to Greece's ouzo.
The dish is actually called "Albanian liver" as it has it's origins in the Albanian territories when the Ottomans ruled much of Eastern Europe. The key is to begin with very young and fresh calf or lamb liver which is carefully washed and trimmed before cooking.
The flour and spice mixture used as a coating before frying tames the strong "livery" flavor. The result is a tender, delicious and flavorful dish that doesn't even seem like liver!Even kids seem to like liver cooked this way. Serve it up with cubes of baked or fried potatoes and you have a dish that is fun and interesting. If you don't tell them it's liver, they may not even know the difference.
Check out my recipe for Turkish-style "Albanian" liver and onions.
For more about Turkish cuisine, visit Discover Turkish Cooking.
More recipes with liver:
Chicken Livers in Mushroom Sauce
Photo © Elizabeth Taviloglu, 2012