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Calf’s Liver, Baked

Baked calf liver coated in flour and pepper, topped with bacon, baked, then finished with breadcrumbs and served with gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Liver and bread work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 731 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Calf’s Liver, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash and dry the liver.

  2. Lightly flour and pepper the liver.

  3. Lay a few slices of fat bacon on top.

Bake and serve

  1. Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C), basting occasionally with the bacon fat.

  2. When nearly done, remove the bacon and sprinkle raspings or fresh bread crumbs over the liver.

  3. Brown the surface nicely and serve with plain gravy made in the pan or piquant sauce.

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 + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together731 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

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

  3. Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,078 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together50,459 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

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 cooked ingredient, becoming tender and moist when baked gently.
Fat bacon
Lays fat over the liver, keeping it moist and adding savory flavor as it bastes.
Flour
Lightly coats the surface, helping it brown and giving the crust a dry texture.
Raspings or fresh bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping that adds texture and browning to the surface.

The step that matters

Baking at moderate heat without overcooking. Liver is lean and turns dry and grainy when overcooked. Removing the bacon near the end lets the surface brown while the inside stays tender.

“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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