Liver and Onions Sublime

Have I learned to love liver,  or have I just learned to cook it?  

Delish!! 

Years (and years) ago, newly married to a liver loving husband I dove in and tackled one of his favorite dishes.  My personal history with liver was not good, I have memories of fleeing the house when it was being cooked.  So how did I turn my taste buds around?  Slowly,  with more than a few failed experiments. But here's the best of the best,  and the recipe I seldom deviate from now. 

Liver and Onions Sublime
2 pounds calves liver from reliable source  
2 -3 large onions, sliced into narrow ribbons
1/2 - 1 cup Beef Bone Broth
1/2 cup almond flour
salt and pepper to taste
avocado or olive oil

Place the sliced onions in a skillet with oil and saute slowly over low heat until wilted and beginning to be translucent.

Add the salt and pepper to the almond flour and place in a plastic bag. Add liver slices and shake to coat.  

Push onions to the side or remove and turn up the heat. Liver should cook quickly and not too long. I use a setting of 6 on my electric stove for almost everything. When I cook liver, I turn it up to 8. Top setting is 12 and if I was searing a steak I'd use 10. So higher, but far from the highest.

Add liver to pan and cook 3-5 minutes for the first side and slightly less for the second. The almond flour will brown nicely. Add a bit more oil if needed.  Remove from pan to make room for additional pieces as needed.

Once you've cooked all the liver, return it to the pan with the onions, add the Beef Bone Broth, lower the heat slightly and cover. Within a few minutes the broth will be reduced and thickened, and the flavors will finish their meld resulting in a very savoury and appealing meal.  Serve and enjoy.

If you notice the slice in the photo above, the liver is still pink after saute and simmer. This is ideal and a big part of what makes it taste so lovely. The almond flour with it's nutty richness is a wonderful addition and pecan flour would be a great substitute. This recipe is legal for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, Paleo and the Wahls Protocol.  Yet another example of how low carb cooking does not mean no taste. 

Local Market: Nalls Produce in Alexandria, Virginia

This weekend I met with Valerie Nalls whose family has been sharing produce and plants with their Virginia community for more than 50 years. Things are quiet now,  in January,  but there was a steady stream of customers coming to collect their CSA boxes. I love nurseries and farms so this was a real treat. Valerie wanted to see Brainy Belly Bone Broth for herself, to see if it might appeal to the group embarking on a Paleo Whole30 later this month.  The link offers more info if you'd like to join in.

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It was great  to hear how a passionate community has coalesced around this family business in a Washington DC suburb.  It's clear that Valerie and her staff are attuned to the needs of their customers and working to find creative ways to connect and serve. 

I am pleased to say that they are now stocking our Bone Broth and suggest a visit whether for the Whole30, fresh produce or your garden dreams.

Nalls Produce
7310 Beulah Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22315

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Local Markets: Brainy Belly Bone Broth now at YES Organic Markets

It was at the October Union Kitchen Tasting that John Parks, of Yes Organic Markets came striding towards my small stretch of table, saying "let me taste your broth!" He peppered me with questions regarding our sources for bones, how they were raised , whether the broth gelled when cooled and what other ingredients were included. 

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He nodded approvingly as he tried each flavor, took my marketing materials, spoke quietly with an associate and disappeared.  That was on a Friday, and Sunday evening a purchase order appeared, for a case of each variety to go out on the following Tuesday morning, to each of six DC area YES Organic Markets. And just like that our production moved into a whole new gear. 

When your mission is to make quality bone broth available, whether for those on a healing diet or anyone wanting to give their cooking a major flavor upgrade, this is excellent news. We've been shipping broth all over the country but now it is easier than ever to walk into any of six YES Organic Markets and purchase Brainy Belly Bone Broth for immediate use. No waiting for the Fedex delivery truck. Defrost at will, and enjoy! 

Please look for it at the following locations:

Adams Morgan

1825 Columbia Rd. NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-462-2069

HOURS
Monday - Saturday 7 am - 10 pm
Sunday 8 am - 9 pm

Brookland

3809 12th St. NE
Washington, DC 20017
202-832-7715
Free customer parking available

HOURS
Monday - Saturday 7 am - 10 pm
Sunday 7 am - 9 pm

Capitol Hill

410 8th St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
202-546-4325

HOURS
Monday - Saturday 7 am - 10 pm
Sunday 7 am - 9 pm

Cleveland Park

3425 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
202-363-1559

HOURS: CLOSED TEMPORARILY FOR RENOVATIONS
(Reopening in late December)

Petworth

4100 Georgia Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20011
202-291-5790
Free customer parking available

HOURS
Monday - Saturday 7 am - 10 pm
Sunday 7 am - 9 pm

14th St.

2123 14th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-232-6603
Garage parking validation available for customers

HOURS
Monday - Friday 7 am - 10 pm
Saturday - Sunday 8 am - 10 pm

Hyattsville, MD

5331 Baltimore Ave.
Hyattsville, MD 20781
301-779-1205
Free customer parking available

HOURS
Monday - Sunday 7 am - 10 pm

Using Bone Broth Every Day

Here's a few ideas for how to bring bone broth into your daily cooking. My personal favorite is to use beef broth when I saute swiss chard in a bit of olive oil with onions. Once the onions have become translucent add the chopped and washed swiss chard, stirring to coat the chard with oil. As it begins to wilt reduce the heat and add 1 cup of broth. Cook until sauce is thickened and enjoy!

What is your favorite use for bone broth? Please share in the comments section below. Or tweet using the hashtag #UsingBoneBroth. It's always the big question that I get at demos so let's talk about it.

Local Market: The Market at River Falls: Sharing Bone Broth

Spent a few hours at the beautiful Market at River Falls in Potomac, Maryland sharing hot bone broth samples and recipe ideas.  

Owner Jim McWhorter in the background, the case filled with incredible grass fed beef and fresh seafood. 

Co-Owner Jim McWhorter sent out an email about Brainy Belly to his customer list and I met lots of people following special diets who were pleased to find a quality bone broth in the freezer.  So a big HELLO! to Potomac, Maryland. Brainy Belly Bone Broth is in the freezer, now at The Market at River Falls.

THE MARKET AT RIVER FALLS

10124 River Road
Potomac, MD 20854
301-765-8001

email@MarketRiverFalls.com

Store Hours:
Monday – Friday 10am – 7:30pm
Saturday 10am – 7:30pm
Sunday 11am – 6:30pm

Dancing Creek Farm and Mick's Chickens

It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce Dancing Creek Farm as a supplier for organic, pasture raised chickens for our bone broth and 'about to be introduced' Chicken Comfort Soup.

Thanks to the North Atherton Farmer's Market for the photo of Mick and his son, now a few years older.

I have been buying chickens from Mick for several years at the Sheridan School Farmer's Market in Washington DC and it took many weeks of waiting for him to decide to be a Brainy Belly supplier.

Ever since a trip to England in the 1980's I have been on the hunt for chickens that tasted like the ones I had during my visit. They had a flavor that was more than the touted neutral taste of most US market birds with a certain richness and meatiness that was missing from birds purchased at home. And once I started making chicken bone broth, it was obvious that the birds sold at a grocery, often only 10-12 weeks old when butchered just did not produce the gelatin rich broth that I wanted. 

Dancing Creek's birds were a revelation. They are larger and older than most market birds, weighing 3 - 4 pounds. Not only is the meat delicious however it is prepared, but the bones make wonderful broth with significant gelatin content and a hearty, comforting flavor. Mick also brings small bags of chicken feet to market and often has packages "For Stock" which are the backs and necks of birds left after breasts and legs are removed for specialty packaging. And his farm is certified organic and follows organic farming practices. 

He has a limited web presence but you can find more information and his market schedule here: Dancing Creek Farm.