Catch Up

Just wanted to finish off my side of beef chronicles. I made the stuff ages ago, but never posted. For the last package of stew meat, I think I made a beef paprika dish (smoked spanish paprika, tomatoes, sourcream type sauce).

On New Year's Day I used the rest. The beef bones got made into stock. The suet was rendered into lard. The last of (my half of) the liver was made into dog treats. It's all in the freezer slowly getting used.

Beef, Beef, and More Beef

I'm so far behind recording what I've been cooking it's not even funny. Here's the list of everything I can remember:

• Hamburgers: 4 lb of ground beef to make burgers for a labor day party.
• Fillet Mignon: made like I normally make steak
• Sirloin Steak: Ted cooked this up as his first steak attempt. Very tasty.
• Stew Meat: 1 package cooked in a tomato-paprika sauce.
• Liver: 1 lb given to a friend for her cat. The cat is happy.

We're coming up on the end of the meat. A few roasts, some shanks, beef bones, suet are the main things that are left. We'll see if we make through everything by thanksgiving. Already planning on a pig for next year though.

Liver Attempt #1: Liver with Bacon and Onions

Well I defrosted a package of liver to motivate me to use it. My past experiences with liver have been mixed. I have very dim childhood memories of my mother making liver with bacon and onions. My father still raves about it, but I remember only liking the bacon. In gradschool I had a craving for liver and got it at a restaurant. I really enjoyed it. Then I tried it again at another restaurant and didn't care for it.

Tonight was my first attempt at making liver. I had my concerns. Everything I read about cooking liver said to use calf's liver and not beef liver, which is not an option here. The other key point seemed to be not to over cook it, but no temperature readings were ever given.

I made this recipe from Epicurious. I tweaked it by added a bit of paprika, as suggested by Elise, from Simply Recipes. I was out of smoked Spanish paprika, which would have accompanied the bacon nicely, so I just used Hungarian paprika.
My liver was already sliced. Unfortunately the slices were a bit thicker than what the recipe called for, so the timing on the cooking was a trick. When I was done, they were still faintly pink inside, but no longer bloody. I'm wondering if I cooked them too long. Anybody have a suggested thermometer reading for liver?

I paired it with a mashed sweet potatato that I microwaved and some edamame I pulled from the freezer. The result?

Well I thought it was edible, but not stellar. Anything with a half a slab of bacon in it should taste better than this. The hubby almost gagged on his first bite and refused to have anymore.

I'll be looking for new liver recipes in the future. The distant future.