I am one of those weirdos that likes liver and onions, okay? Back in college, when I was learning Montenegrin food, I noticed liver was a commonly used protein in that cuisine. I still remember when I was auditioning for Masterchef season 10, since I mentioned being a heavy baker more than a savory cook, the producers asked me about what I cooked on the savory side. When I mentioned Montenegrin, the head producer at the time, Natalka, asked me to elaborate. And when I started talking about liver, there were collective groans of disgust from the people standing next to me in my audition group. And I got a bit sassy there, saying that if me, as a baker, can make liver taste good, then that should put me ahead of these other people claiming to be savory cooks, who all could not fathom how to make liver appetizing. The best way to prepare liver, which I learned through Montenegrin cooking, is to soak it in milk to draw out the gross, metallic flavor of it, before cooking it, either breaded or pan-seared. The end result is this soft, creamy protein that is actually very pleasant texturally with an inoffensive taste. I get why it is paired with caramelized onions, since that nuttiness and sweetness also help with keeping the liver from tasting acrid or bitter, which so often it does because it is the organ that stores your bile. Gross. Yeah, I really know how to sell eating this, don’t I? Being an ex-butcher, I love using the off cuts for the most part. They’re cheaper and while at times, not as desirable, with enough love and attention, they are just as tasty as a ribeye or filet. In the case of this dish, I wanted to take liver and onions, and pair that with another dish that I like to make, being piccata. Piccata is an Italian dish, preferring to a protein, usually meat but I’ve seen it with trout before, that is cut thinly, lightly dusted with flour, pan fried, and finished with a buttery lemon-caper sauce. Chicken is commonly used for this, but I figured, since I am going to flour and pan-sear my liver anyways, why not have it with piccata sauce as well?

In terms of timing, this dish is deceptive in that it does require a decent chunk of waiting around. The liver is needy. You need to trim off any sinew(veiny bits) from the liver itself, and slice it into 1/4-inch thick pieces. These pieces then need to soak in a buttermilk mixture for at least 30 minutes, but preferably up to 2 hours, to ensure that all of that unpleasant blood is pulled out of them. You can tell that the milk has done its job when it takes on a greyish-pink color. A warning, the milk will smell PUTRID. The onion jam and the pasta dough are what I recommend starting on while that process is going, since caramelizing onions does take time, and pasta dough needs time to rest before you can roll it out. The piccata sauce is actually a very quick recipe, and it comes together with just melting together butter, capers, lemon juice, and salt. It is thickened with a bit of the pasta water, just to give it a glossy finish, and I tossed my noodles in that after tossing the seared liver in the sauce to finish. While the dish itself requires a bit of a time commitment, it is a tasty meal that I guarantee you will convert almost any liver hater into a liver lover! The liver itself is tender and soft, the caramelized onion jam adds a sweetness, while the pasta that soaks up that tangy, buttery piccata sauce just helps to bring it all together. Conceptually, I did incorporate some Japanese ingredients, like koji(an umami-forward bacteria used to make miso) and cooking sake, just because I could imagine this dish being served in an Izakaya for some reason, or at least a Japanese yoshoku pasta restaurant.

For the calves liver:
1 calves liver
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp shio koji
2 tbsp salt
1/2 cup mochiko
2 tbps unsalted butter

Slice the calves into into 1/4-inch pieces, removing any veiny or tougher bits – you want the liver bits that we are using to be on the softer side. Soak the liver in the buttermilk, mixed with shio koji, and salt, for at least 20 minutes, covered, in the refrigerator.

Afterwards, pat the liver dry and dust in the mochiko right before searing the pieces off in a pan lined with butter. You want to sear each side for no more than 2 minutes.

Keep the cooked liver pieces on a roasting rack for now.

For the onion jam:
2 vidalia onions, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp cooking sake
1 tsp soy sauce

In a pan, start by cooking down the onions with butter until slightly browned in color. Add in the other ingredients, and continue to stir, cooking on medium heat until the onions reach a jammy consistency.

For the pasta:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp olive oil
1 egg
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, mix everything together until a dough forms. Roll out the dough using a pasta roller to the third thinnest setting, and then cut the pasta into 1/4-inch wide noodles. Right before serving, boil the pasta in heavily salted water for 30 seconds.

For the piccata sauce:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
juice from 2 lemons
a pinch of salt
3 tbsp capers
3 tbsp pasta water

In a pan, start by melting down the butter, and add to that the lemon juice, salt, and capers. Once the sauce begins to slightly simmer, add to that the pasta water, and stir until combined. Toss the cooked livers in the sauce first, then the cooked pasta, before plating everything together to finish.