Liver & bacon

An unusual way to prepare liver and bacon from The Cotswold Country Cookbook. Molly Harris got this family recipe from a friend. It is a sort of variation on the technique for assembling Dublin Coddle, also recommended, and a good gateway for those squeamish about the idea of liver. Four servings.

• 2 big onions sliced into thin crescents
• 2 peeled apples, also sliced thin
• 1 lb calf’s, or if you can get it pork, liver (see the Notes)
• ½ lb bacon rashers (‘streaky bacon’ in the UK) cut into small pieces
• 6 oz breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• generous teaspoon or more chopped fresh marjoram
• generous teaspoon or more chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 350°.

1. Drop a layer of liver into a heavy ovenproof pot, followed by some bacon, breadcrumbs, apples, onions and about half of each herb.
2. Repeat the sequence until all the ingredients reside in the pot but do ensure that the top layer consists of breadcrumbs.
3. Add enough water barely to cover the stew, give the pot its lid and bake the stew until the apples and onions are tender, usually in about an hour.

Notes:

-Harris specifies pork liver, which is difficult to find in the United States, although Chinese grocers in the bigger American cities tend to stock it. The calf’s liver is more than suitable as a replacement but much more expensive.

-She also uses a single big baking apple and probably has an English Bramley in mind but they are unavailable in the United States.