Liver Stroganoff

By Wendy Barrie

As a student I recall a Leith butcher who exclusively sold offal. Gone are the days but it’s time for a renaissance. With a shorter shelf life, these meats would have been the first to be eaten, or indeed preserved as black pudding or haggis. They are nutrient dense, delicious and often very good value for money. Scots used many thrifty habits to great effect and what better time to resurrect them than in a recession? For example, using meat bones to create fabulous stocks for risotto, stroganoff, stovies and soups. Another stumbling block for offal is the lack of regional abattoirs: as the number of small slaughterhouses decreases, so does the likelihood of buying local offal products. Today’s recipe is using totally local produce (apart from pepper) for my tasty take on an eastern European dish: Liver and mutton stock from Ardoch Hebridean Sheep, our garden leeks, Fife salt from East Neuk Salt co, Summer Harvest rapeseed oil from Crieff and bere berries from Orkney. Even the mushrooms were gathered by a friend and dried as a gift.

Ingredients:

250g liver

Flour for dusting

A drizzle of rapeseed oil

25g butter

1 large onion

Salt & milled pepper

Method:

100mls cream

150mls mutton stock

A handful of dried chanterelles/160g fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

For bere: 100g bere berries (or pearl barley);1 small leek/spring onion, cleaned & sliced finely; seasoning; approx 450mls mutton stock

• Prepare barley by soaking in a bowl with sufficient boiling water to cover the grains for a minimum of 1 hour.

• Prepare dried mushrooms as above but with less water as this will be saved and added along with stock.

• Prepare liver by slicing into strips and dusting with seasoned plain flour.

• When the bere is pre-soaked, drain and place in a pan along with stock and seasoning. Bring to boil and simmer for 45 minutes until tender. Add finely sliced leek for the remaining 20 minutes of cooking time and start cooking the liver. All the stock should be absorbed however check that it doesn’t dry out completely. Add a little hot water if required to keep it moist.

• Pre-heat a pan or wok with a drizzle of rapeseed oil and the knob of butter and gently cook onion and mushrooms (fresh or re-hydrated) over a medium heat until golden. Remove from pan to prevent them burning and add in liver. Increase heat and sauté for 10 minutes, depending on the size of your strips. Turn to brown on both sides. We prefer ours fully cooked but some like a hint of pink remaining. Season.

• Return onion and mushrooms to pan along with a ladle-full of stock, combine, simmer and reduce a little. Swirl in cream, warm through and serve with spoonfuls of bere.

Makes 2 generous portions

Wendy Barrie is a cook, food writer & campaigner for local sustainable food. Founder & Director of award-winning www.scottishfoodguide.scot & www.scottishcheesetrail.com Wendy is Leader in Scotland for Slow Food Ark of Taste, a Cooks Alliance Member, Thistle Regional Ambassador in Scotland & Member of IGCAT Global Experts Network. Her book on regenerative food production, “Meadows: The Swedish Farmer & The Scottish Cook” is co-written with her husband, Bosse Dahlgren, heritage farmer & genebank specialist.