CHEESESLAVE

If you love liver and are looking for a new way to eat it, you’ve got to try this recipe.

For the rest of you who just can’t find a way to make yourself eat liver, even though you know you should, you’ve also got to try this recipe.

What makes liver so good for you?

It contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food. In summary, liver provides:

* An excellent source of high-quality protein
* Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
* All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
* One of our best sources of folic acid
* A highly usable form of iron
* Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
* An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
* CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
* A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.

Source: WAPF

This is the Italian version of French pate: chicken liver crositini. In Italian, that’s crostini di fegato di pollo.

Say it out loud with me. Crostini di fegato di pollo.

Ahh… doesn’t that sound sexy?

This meal is as sexy as the Italian language.

It makes a great fancy appetizer you can make ahead for company — or bring to a potluck or summer barbecue. Add a caprese salad and you’ve got a delicious gourmet summer meal.

Here’s the recipe (which I modified from this one on Becks & Posh):

Chicken Liver Crostini (serves six to eight)

4 tablespoons grass-fed butter (unsalted, raw if possible — I used KerryGold)
4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
1 large handful of fresh sage leaves (mine came from my garden)
1 lb organic, pastured chicken livers
1/2 cup dry white wine (organic if you can find it — I used Trader Joe’s chenin blanc — I think you could leave this out if you are making the meal for your kids)
1 small jar of capers, drained (organic if possible)
1 loaf of sprouted or sourdough bread (I’m using GAPS almond bread)
More olive oil to grill bread
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Trim the chicken livers of all little pieces of sinew and fat.

2. Melt together 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of olive in a large saute pan or Dutch oven over low to medium heat.

3. Saute the sage and onion in the butter and oil, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until they are soft and translucent. Be careful not to overheat and brown the onions.

4. While that’s going on, take your drained capers and dump them into the food processor. (You can also mince them by hand if you prefer.) Pulse quickly a a number of times (like this, “Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!”) — just until they are roughly chopped.

5. Transfer the onions and sage to a bowl and set aside.

6. Melt the remaining 2 TBS butter and 2 TBS oil. Add the chicken livers and quickly sautee them for 2-3 minutes, just until they are ever-so-slightly browned on the outside. Be VERY careful not to overcook the livers, or they will toughen and have that nasty “livery” taste. They should still be pink in the middle.

7. Add the onions/sage and the 1/4 cup white wine to the chicken livers and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

8. Transfer the liver/onion/sage mixture to the food processor, where your chopped capers are still sitting. Add several pinches of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

9. Pulse sharply only a few times (”Bzt-bzt!”) — you want a VERY coarse — NOT blended — mixture.

10. Transfer the chicken liver mixture to a bowl and stick it in the fridge to cool some — it should be very hot and liquidy — you want it a little cooler in order to properly spread it.

11. Coat bread slices with olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt.

11. Grill or broil the toasts before topping with the chicken liver mixture and garnishing with flat leaf parsley.

12. While the toasts are broiling, chop up the parsley.

13. Spread the chicken liver mixture on the toasts and sprinkle with the parsley.

On to the salad…

(that’s the first basil of the summer — from my back yard!)

Caprese Salad (serves 2)

2 tomatoes (organic if possible)
1 block of mozzarella cheese around the size of a tennis ball (homemade if possible, or good quality)
Big bunch of fresh basil (rinsed, organic if possible — mine came from my back yard)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Good quality olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

1. Slice the cheese and tomatoes.

2. Layer in an artful way.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

This meal goes especially well with Prosecco, a sparkling Italian wine which is very similar to Champagne. Only much cheaper ($6/bottle at Trader Joe’s) and not quite so dry. I love Prosecco in the summertime. Makes me think of that Marilyn Monroe movie, “The Seven Year Itch” where she’s always drinking Champagne and eating potato chips.

Buon appetito!

Here is the recipe for the GAPS Almond Bread from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s book, “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”.

This bread is really easy to make. Tonight I’m going to make some more to go with the butternut squash soup I’m making — and serve it with butter and roasted bone marrow. Either that or homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese.

Ideally you should soak it overnight to remove the phytic acid and make it more digestible. You can either soak your nuts (see Nourishing Traditions recipes for crispy nuts) and dehydrate then grind them OR if you buy almond meal, just soak it overnight in some kefir, whey or yogurt and warm water.

2 1/2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup softened butter (or coconut oil, goose fat, chicken fat, duck fat, or homemade yogurt or creme fraiche) plus a little extra to grease the pan

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Grease a loaf pan or cookie sheet. Mix the almond flour, eggs, and fat in a bowl. Press the mixture into the greased loaf pan — or mold into a loaf shape on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for about an hour. Test for doneness by inserting a clean butter knife — it will come out clean when it’s ready.
4. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before using a butter knife to remove it from the pan.

You can also make different kinds of loaves by adding various ingredients. You could add a cheese or olives and rosemary or you could add some dates or honey to make it sweet. You can use it for pizza dough as well, and for muffins.

You can also make multiple loaves and freeze them.