Do not discount GRASS FED BEEF LIVER! ... until you at least read this post. :)
I have eaten and posted about Beef Heart, Beef Tongue and finally BEEF LIVER!
I have eaten beef liver many times in my childhood and liked it (not loved it). I bought some a couple of months ago from the grocery store …. it was GRAIN FED and cooked it in bacon and onions … I ate most of it but could NOT make myself eat it all.
To be honest, it was disappointing … I love eating and experimenting with different foods and have never met a food that could not eaten. Well, the beef liver that day is not something I would buy again… unless I was starving.
Having said all that, it’s commonly known that Grass Fed meats/organs taste better than their Grain fed counterparts…. so I was patiently waiting for the opportunity to purchase and try.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity. While visiting a local health food store, no grass fed beef liver could be seen… so I asked the manager if he had any. His response, “I think we have some in the freezer let me check”.
He did indeed find some… and he told me that it had been in there awhile so he would sell it to me … for $.99 per lb. That was a 100 to 200% mark down!!!! So I took a gamble … even though my last batch of beef liver was ‘barely tolerable’ … I decided to buy all he had at that price, and he had 10 LBS!!!!! :)) Ten pounds of one of the IF NOT THE most nutrient dense meats on the planet.
To try to put this in the proper perspective … a pound of beef liver sates me ALL day when cooked in butter or coconut oil … so for about a dollar a day, I COULD eat for 10 days …. for the equivalent cost of one inexpensive restaurant meal.
The big question still remained …. would it taste better? Could or would I enjoy eating it enough to eat 10 lbs?!?!?! … the gamble paid off… BIG TIME.
Friends… please do NOT dismiss beef liver if you did not like GRAIN FED beef liver in the past. Before giving up on it … try GRASS FED once to make sure…. I am so glad I gave GRASS Fed beef liver a chance. Braising the liver in bacon grease, a little Tony Chachere’s, a little Texas Pete…. and onions was TOTALLY AWESOME! :)
WHY should you give GRASS FED beef liver a try? Because beef liver is SO GOOD FOR YOU!
Check out this nutritional panel below…..
Click to Enlarge
Notes :
1) The nutritional data above is on a ‘per slice’ basis.
2) The Vitamin and Mineral information is not a full listing. You can check out the full nutritional panel by clicking here.
3) This listing is for ‘beef liver’ …. I suspect this is for grain fed and not grass fed. Point being that grass fed liver should be EVEN MORE nutritious.
4) You can see (I hope) why many refer to beef liver as ‘nature’s vitamin pill’. :))
5) Mark Sisson opened my eyes to organ meats with this post …. “Organ Meats”
*** I urge you to learn to eat the way I eat … and exercise …. abandon the “ADA Way” of carb up and shoot up … DO IT TODAY!
Here is my Diabetes Warrior Info:
My Diabetes Meal Plan ( a true diabetes diet, not like most of those promoted by American Diabetes Association)
Related posts:
As a child my favorite snack was leftover liver straight from the fridge.
I love chicken livers fried in lard with onions, fresh diced tomatos and curry spice. Yumm. I have this every week.
Thanks for the comment. I love CHICKEN livers and would love to try with diced tomatoes and curry… indeed! :)
My parents claim that liver smells terrible, and they refuse to let me cook it while they are home. As such, I’ve never actually had liver. Do you have any difficulty with the smell of cooking liver?
Actually when I was cooking it, the kitchen smelled great, but I also had bacon in the pan. Mine turned out a bit tough but still pretty tasty, so I have it simmering with a can of Italian style tomatoes and the onions, with a bit of beef stock added.
Hey Steve just wondering: Do you have coworkers? How do they react if you bring leftovers of organ meats to work? I bet you have no trouble with your lunch being stolen! X-D
Either I’m not cooking them right, or I just don’t like the iron-y taste of chicken livers. Then again it could be that they were from conventional chickens, However.I’ll give the curry & tomatoes a shot next time I bake up multiple chickens! I hate tossing something so nutritious, especially with food prices going up!
Andrea,
I can eat but do not like grain fed beef liver … I LOVE grass fed, grass finished beef liver.
If you do not like grain fed chicken livers… perhaps you should try free range chicken livers. I happen to love grain fed chicken livers. :)
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[...] Liver… Nature’s Vitamin PillApr 8, 2011 … Andrea Tharp · April 20, 2011 at 9:38 am Log in to Reply. Actually when I was cooking it, the kitchen smelled great, but I also had bacon in the … [...]