Elk Liver

This stuff does not look pretty but it really does taste awesome…  and it is one of the most nutritionally dense meals you could eat. 

We tend to eat elk liver at least once a week.  We buy it from Wapiti Ways at the Calgary Farmers Market, and sometimes we even get a discount for recommending it to other people…  there was one couple the other week dithering about whether to buy it and we told them how wonderful it was and they bought it. And when we came to pay for our purchase (elk liver and elk heart), we got a very healthy discount…  Thank you Wapiti Ways! 🙂

Most of the time I cook elk liver very simply – it does not need long cooking…  3 minutes per side if that, and quite often  I will cook it for a lot less…  this is something that you WANT to eat rare…  overcook it and it turns to leather.

This is also one of the more economical meals that I cook..  while it doesn’t seem like enough, one packet of liver is so nutritionally dense that it will feed all 6 of us. Especially when it is paired with some greens…

It does not look all that promising but will taste fantastic once cooked.

So how do you cook this wonderous stuff?

I would recommend as simply as you can…

Season with salt, maybe a bit of garlic or herbs if you are in the mood and simply panfry for no more than 2 minutes per side (they guy at Wapiti Ways told us 3 minutes per side but it needs less than that…  we like it bloody as hell!)

Then serve with whatever takes your fancy…  in the pic above we briefly stir-fried some ruby chard and divided  that between 6 plates.  Then we sat a piece of cooked elk liver on top and finally topped it with caramelized onions cooked with pastured bacon….

An awesome meal!