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Calf's Liver Cooked Like Game Bird

Erken's recipe for a whole calf's liver prepared "like game bird": the liver is soaked and lies 2 hours in vinegar water, larded with pork strips, browned in butter and braised 1–1½ hours in water and milk, with 1 dl sour cream for the last half hour. The stock is strained and thickened, if needed, with browned butter and flour.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 223 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

From the chapter on calf's liver in "Stor kokebok" (1914). Erken explains that the liver has roughly the same nutritional value as meat, that the surface should be smooth and glossy, and that the liver should be soaked until the blood is well drawn out. Veins and bile ducts (the white sinews) are removed. "Like game bird" means the whole liver is larded and fried/braised like a piece of game or fowl.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Place the liver in vinegar water

    Place the soaked liver in vinegar and water for 2 hours. Take it up and wipe it well dry.

  2. 2

    Lard the liver

    Lard the liver with thin strips of pork.

  3. 3

    Brown the liver

    Brown the liver on all sides in 100 g butter.

  4. 4

    Braise

    Pour on first 4 dl boiling water, then about 5 dl milk. Salt to taste. Let the liver simmer gently under a lid for 1–1½ hours and baste it often with the stock.

  5. 5

    Sour cream at the end

    Add 1 dl farm sour cream to the pot for the last half hour of cooking time.

  6. 6

    The sauce

    Strain the stock. If the sauce is too thin, brown butter and flour and thin with the stock – or cook the stock down to a suitable thickness.

  7. 7

    Serving

    Cut the liver into slices and serve with the sauce, preferably with potatoes and vegetables.

Changes from the original

Deciliters and liters are kept as modern measures (4 del. = 4 dl). "Pork strips" is modernized to strips of fresh side pork/fatback. Quantities for browned butter and flour for the sauce are estimated based on Erken's usual proportions. The steps are written out in modern language.

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Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
1949 (proofread, p. 252) → Modernised~90% of the text changedremovedadded
Leveren legges 2 timer 1 stk kalvelever (utvannet, uten årer og galleganger). 1 dl eddik (til utvanning). 5 dl vann (til utvanning, sammen med eddiken). 100 g fersk sideflesk eller spekk (skåret i tynne strimler til spekking). 100 g smør (til bruning). 4 dl kokende vann. 5 dl melk (ca.). 1 dl seterrømme (sur fløte). 1 ts salt (etter smak). 20 g smør (til sausen, om den må jevnes). 20 g hvetemel (til sausen, om den må jevnes). Legg den utvannede leveren i eddik og vann, tørres, speckes vann i 2 timer. Ta den opp og tørk den godt.. Spekk leveren med tynne fleskestrimler og brunes strimler av flesk.. Brun leveren på alle sider i 100 gr. smør. Tilsettes g smør.. Hell først ¾ del. på 4 dl kokende vann, derpå deretter ca. ½ l. melk, salt efter 5 dl melk. Salt etter smak. Småkoker 1—1½ time, La leveren småkoke under lokk i 1–1½ time og dryppes ofte. ¼ del. sur fløte koker ofte med kraften.. Ha 1 dl seterrømme i gryten den siste halve time. Sausen siles; hvis den er timen av koketiden.. Sil kraften. Er sausen for tynn, brunes brun smør og mel, som spes mel og spe med kraften, kraften – eller den kan kun kokes inn. kok kraften inn til passe tykkelse.. Skjær leveren i skiver og server med sausen, gjerne med poteter og grønnsaker.

Note on Modernised

Desiliter og liter er beholdt som moderne mål (4 del. = 4 dl). «Fleskestrimler» er modernisert til strimler av fersk sideflesk/spekk. Mengder for brunet smør og mel til sausen er anslått ut fra Erkens vanlige forhold. Trinnene er skrevet ut i moderne språk.

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Frequently asked questions

Why should the liver lie in vinegar and water?
The liver is placed 2 hours in vinegar and water to draw out blood and mellow the strong flavor. It is then wiped well dry before larding and browning.
How long should the liver cook?
It simmers gently 1–1½ hours after browning, and should be basted often with the stock. With the 2-hour soaking, the total time comes to around 3.5 hours.
When is the cream added?
1 deciliter sour cream is cooked in for the last half hour. The sauce is strained at the end; if it is too thin, it is thickened with browned butter and flour thinned with the stock, or simply cooked down.
What does it mean that the liver is done "like game bird"?
It is larded with thin pork strips and fried/browned in butter with stock, milk and sour cream – that is, prepared the way game and birds are treated in Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914, p. 223).

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