Calf’s liver with Sherry & smoked paprika

Calf’s liver with Sherry and smoked paprika based on a recipe from the Ulster Reform Club amounts to a lightened version of the traditional liver with onion and bacon; all the smoke, none of the bacon. This is simple classic club food at its best. Four servings.

• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• a sprinkle of good salt (like Maldon)
• a big sweet onion (like Vidalia) sliced into the thinnest crescents
• about 1 teaspoon neutral oil
• 4 uniform 6 oz slices calf’s liver ( but see the notes)
• 4 Tablespoons Amontillado Sherry
• about a Tablespoon Sherry vinegar
• heaped ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• some Worcestershire

1. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the onion and salt and fry the onion until it just softens.
2. Push the onion to the perimeter of the pan, turn the heat to high and swirl the oil into the pan.
3. Slap the liver into the center of the skillet, and fry it for about three minutes to form a crust: Do not mover the liver or it will not caramelize.
4. Flip the liver to fry it for two more minutes.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir the pan for less than a minute and serve it up.

Notes:

-The club recipe actually is for lamb’s liver. It is an excellent ingredient but difficult to find in the United States; much cheaper than calf’s liver in the UK.

-The club recipe does not include Worcestershire, but then restaurant kitchens hate to admit they use prepared sauces. More of them use these things than any of them would like to admit.