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Broiled Liver

Broiled liver slices seasoned with salt and pepper, basted in butter and served with the broiler gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Liver and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,065 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Broiled Liver

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the liver slices in salted cold water for 30 minutes, then wipe them dry.

Broil and serve

  1. Place the slices on a hot, greased broiler, turning often and basting with melted butter.

  2. Collect the gravy in a pan below the broiler and pour it over the liver before serving.

  3. Season with pepper and salt.

  4. Serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Liver + buttertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,065 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Liver + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,375 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Calf's liver
Is the main protein, cooked quickly so it stays tender when broiled in thin slices.
Melted butter
Adds fat and moisture to the surface, helping the liver brown and stay juicy while broiling.

The step that matters

Broiling the liver. Liver is lean and overcooks quickly, becoming dry and grainy. Turning it often over a hot, greased surface cooks it evenly and quickly while basting keeps the surface moist.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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