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Calves' Liver, Semi-fried

A dish of calves' liver and bacon, coated in flour and fried until cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Calves' Liver, Semi-fried

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix flour, salt, and pepper on a plate.

  2. Dip the liver into the flour mixture.

Fry

  1. Heat enough fat in a frying pan to cover the bottom by ¼ inch until very hot.

  2. Fry the liver and bacon.

  3. Turn the liver after 5 minutes.

  4. Remove the bacon when done.

  5. When done, remove to a dish and 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. Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  3. Liver + flourtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Calves' liver
Forms the main meat that is cooked through in hot fat, giving a tender, savory base.
Bacon
Releases fat into the pan and adds smoky, savory flavor to the frying.
Flour
Forms a light coating on the liver that helps it brown in the hot fat.

The step that matters

Heating the fat until very hot. Fat that is very hot sears the floured surface quickly, browning it and sealing in juices. If the fat is too cool, the liver absorbs grease and turns heavy and soggy.

“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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