Tonight, we ate liver (free-range chicken liver that is) for dinner. I used this recipe and made homemade ketchup using this recipe. This was probably the first time in my adult life that I ate liver and the first time in my entire life that I voluntarily ate it.
Remarkably, we didn’t die. I mean, lots of sauteed onions and bacon? That helps! And I’m sure the baby is happy because I just gave him/her a big dose of iron. (That was basically the whole point of liver for dinner.) Nik was more than a little skeptical about the whole idea but even he says that dinner was edible.
And that ketchup? DELICIOUS. Much better than store-bought. I made it exactly to the recipe except that I substituted red-wine vinegar for cider vinegar (because we were out of cider vinegar). We may never go back to store-bought ketchup (because we actually haven’t bought it in a couple years anyway).
This blog post was NOT brought to you by the Ketchup Advisory Board.
(“Ketchup, for the good times.”)
Salmon and Souvlaki 
you win the bravery award. i’ve never delved into liver, and your baby thanks you. instead of eating nutrient dense food, i am feeding my baby utz cheese balls, and i thought of you the four times i didn’t put them back or down as i meandered to the checkout lane. now i’m frantically trying to de-orange my fingers so the kids don’t notice my hypocrisy. off to knead and shape the cinnamon rolls.
The one time that Todd and I raised meat chickens, some elderly neighbors begged the livers from us. We donated most of them gladly, but Todd got to wondering why they were so eager. So we tried frying some with bacon and onions, like you did, and found them delicious! (Not my momma’s chicken livers!) Then we wished we had kept more for ourselves! But mostly, I don’t eat the regular chicken livers. Todd does, just roasted along with the bird, but I can’t get past the texture.
Good for you for taking such good care of your baby! And I’m sure Meg’s baby will get all the nutrients he/she needs, between her bod and the utz cheese balls, whetever they are.
…whatever…
My midwife told me I was borderline anemic (as in not anemic yet but I need to work on eating iron) – hence, liver. I didn’t know you raised meat chickens Zona! That’s cool! And yes – the texture is definitely the worst part.
Meggan – I’m frankly jealous of the Utz cheese balls. I might have to go buy some. The problem around here is that you can only buy them in those huge party containers. I might have to settle for a 33 cent bag of Utz cheese curls but they’re not quite the same.
no. don’t settle. do you have a party coming up? Could you buy them on Friday and take them to church for snack on Sunday?
We did buy the party container.
I wonder if you could do shots of blackstrap molasses? Or make a hot drink of it, somehow? To keep the iron up without the liver. Jonas hovers towards anemic at times, and the biggest thing it to have your iron with lots of Vit C and avoid calcium heavy things like dairy. So I hear anyway. It’s been a while since we worried about that with Jonas. You should also be looking for Vit K heavy stuff, I think nettle tea? That’s what I plan to be aware of, especially after my bleeding last time. Leafy greens, not your fav, are really really high in both iron and vit K.
Oh, and maybe make tabbouleh with the end of the summer tomatoes? A quarter cup of parsley is insanely full of vit k. Oooh- if you eat your leafy greens, an hour later, you can have a cup of cheese balls! 🙂
Have you tried making pesto with mostly parsley and just a bit of basil? It’s really very good, and since Meg says it’s good for what might ail ya, maybe it’s worth a try? What a fount of info she is! My mom used to make us hot milk with a spoonful of molasses stirred in, but I can’t say I cared for it much!
Pesto is a good idea! Meggan – I’ve tried a couple times to eat blackstrap molasses but I have a hard time getting it down because it’s so bitter. Last night, we had grilled pizza and mine was a ton of sauteed chard with onions, garlic, pine nuts, olives, and cherry tomatoes (no cheese). Delicious! Thanks for the tips!
ooh. that sounds delicious. i’ll have some please. parsley pesto -is- good Zona! Laura, I think Alison uses it in a few recipes in the SAFM cookbook.
Pingback: KIOS: Eating, Part 14: Condiments, Spices, Vinegar, Oils, Sweeteners, Nuts (the details) | Salmon and Souvlaki