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Lamb’s liver with persillade and sauté potatoes

Low in fat, high in protein and packed with vitamins and minerals, lamb’s liver is cheap but very delicious. Raymond Blanc says the key to this dish is to use very fresh liver – pale pink with no stickiness or smell – and to cook it very quickly. Serves 4. From Raymond Blanc Kitchen Secrets (S2)

For the persillade
1 handful flatleaf parsley, leaves only
½ shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
For the sauté potatoes
4 medium potatoes, Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
20g/¾oz unsalted butter
For the lamb’s liver
400g/14oz lamb’s liver, cut into slices no thicker than 1cm/¼in
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
40g/1½oz unsalted butter
1 lemon, juice only

For the persillade, finely chop the parsley leaves, mix them with the chopped shallot and garlic and set aside.

For the sauté potatoes, cut the potatoes into dice of about 1cm/¼in. Rinse under cold running water and pat dry.

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and blanch the diced potatoes for 30 seconds. Drain in a colander to allow the steam to escape. (Blanching will neutralize the starches in the potatoes and prevent them from browning too quickly in the pan.)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until just smoking then add the potatoes and a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the potatoes are golden-brown.
Reduce the heat then stir in the butter and two-thirds of the persillade. Adjust the seasoning to taste then set aside and keep warm.

For the lamb’s liver, rinse the slices of liver under running water and pat dry with kitchen paper. Season the slices on both sides with a little salt and pepper – it is important to do this only just before you cook the liver.

On a medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam and turn a blonde colour. This is called a beurre noissette. Browning the butter will give a rich nutty flavour, but be very careful not to burn it or it will become bitter.

Cook the liver for 30 seconds on each side for medium-rare, or one minute each side for medium. If you cook the liver for any longer than this it will become dry and tough and most of the nutrients will be destroyed.

Transfer the cooked liver to a serving dish and keep warm.

Deglaze the pan by returning it to the heat and adding 125ml/4½fl oz water and lemon juice. Stir to dissolve the caramelised meat juices from the bottom of the pan, let bubble and stir in the remaining persillade.

To serve, pour the jus over the liver and serve immediately with the sauté potatoes

Notes

If you buy a whole liver, rather than one already sliced, soak it in a mixture of 500ml/18fl oz milk, 500ml/18fl oz water and two teaspoons of salt for eight hours or overnight. This will extract most of the blood and give the finished dish a creamy texture and subtle flavour. Be sure to rinse the liver well and pat dry before you slice and cook it. Persillade is liberally used in many French dishes. It is always added towards the end of cooking so it retains its colour and freshness. The recipe above can be adapted using any of your favourite herbs – try replacing some of the parsley with chervil, thyme or rosemary. This dish works equally well with calves' liver.