Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
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Wednesday, August 17
It Looks Like a Medium-Rare Steak....
I hope my brother is doing OK. Tonight he is having a date at home with a woman into nutrition/dietetics/running (not sure the exact affiliations, but I think she is in school to become a dietician). In other words, someone not unlike myself. Hehe. He called for general ideas on what to do with some good ingredients he had in the house: eggplant, italian sausage, zucchini, and sweet corn. Inspiration was quick to come but much of it involved too much prep work. In the end we decided on a few ideas which he would then bounce off his date and thusly the two of them would cook in unison. Sounds like fun, and I hope it goes well!
While this was going on, I was making a rather interesting dinner for myself - far from the usual expectation of what a Gen X'er might eat willingly, let alone cook for themself: liver. Yep, that's right. I like liver. This is a recent development, but one that I am embracing due to my predilection for weirdo food interests.
To go with the liver I made a quick cornbread skillet veggie thing, partly inspired by a another blog's broccoli upside down cake and partly just made up. It turned out REALLY well - the top got all nice and crusty and the flavors inside worked together in an earthy/spicy fashion.
NOTE: To cook the pie I used a tiny cast iron skillet just 5" in diameter. Just use a tiny pan that is oven safe, and you should be fine. Enjoy!
Cornbread Veggie Pie (serves 1-2)
2 cups chopped bitter greens (collard, mustard, etc)
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
2 diced jalepenos
2 T corn meal
2 T chickpea flour (besan)
1 egg white
1/3 cup milk (plus or minus)
1/4 t baking powder
"party of" bacon bits
"quorum of" raisins
dash salt & pepper
Preheat the oven to 375. Steam the greens, and saute the mushrooms and peppers until tender and shrunken, preferably in the skillet you will be baking with.
Combine the other ingredients in a bowl, adding enough milk to make a thin batter. Place the steamed greens on top of the shrooms and peppers in the skillet, press them down a bit to smooth out the top, and then pour the batter over. It will look like there isn't much batter, and really, there isn't. But don't worry - just cover as much of the top as you can.
Place in the oven, and in about 20 minutes it will be all toasty and done.
Meanwhile....
Skillet Fried Liver (serves 1)
1 small-medium hunk of animal liver, about 4-6oz (I used beef; veal, chicken, etc. would be just fine as well)
1 T corn flour or meal
1 t fat (bacon fat is nice)
Salt & Pepper
Heat up a small skillet while you are patting dry the liver. Sprinkle on some salt, pepper and a coating of corn flour. Add the fat to the pan, and when melted, flip the liver into the pan, coating side down. Top the naked side with the same salt/pepper/corn coating and let it fry for a few minutes, depending on thickness. For liver, we are going to use a similar strategy to steak - five minutes or so on the first side, then 3-4 minutes on the other side, then when it is still a bit springy to the touch (at this point a little blood might be seeping up in spots - perfect!), remove from heat and let it rest.
After a few minutes, slice it thin and plate it with your hot cornbread. Top the liver with a quick sauce of caramelized onions with some red wine vinegar.
Oops! Sorry I forgot to tell you about that part sooner. I cheated, actually - I used Trader Joe's "Caramelized Onion, Fig & Balsamic Spread" with red wine vinegar added. Its really a divine timesaver. *grin*
Here's the final plated dish, with the cornbread inverted so you can see the mushroomy goodness underneath:
Time posted: 22:30 [permalink]
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CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
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