Thursday, November 3, 2011

The L.I.V.E.R.

WARNING:  Don't read this post if you have a weak stomach. 

I couldn't wait to write this post!  I needed a video camera yesterday- I wish you could've been there.

My challenge yesterday was to make meatloaf that included liver along with the hamburger.  I got my liver soaking the night before.  [Remember that I'm a newbie here, and had no idea why I was soaking it (I haven't gotten that far in my Nourishing Traditions reading yet).  After a bit of research, I found that it's to tame the strong flavor, not to get rid of impurities, as some suggested.]

I decided that I better get the meatloaf ready to cook before my kids got home so they couldn't see me & wouldn't know.  Best decision ever!   

First off, in the recipe it doesn't say what to do with the liver!  It talks about adding the hamburger, but never mentions the liver, other than there is a 1/2 lb in it.  I thought that if I cut it up it would be too noticeable in the meatloaf in little chunks, so I thought I had better mush it up more.  I don't have a food processor, so I just threw it in my Vitamix blender.  Oh. My. Word.  




What to do?  I considered tossing it out, but decided I couldn't give up now.  So here's what I was working with:



Gives me shivers just looking at it.  I pulled little bits of vessels here & there that were too fibrous to blend in.  I didn't get a picture of the fibrous tissue wrapped around the bottom of the blender blade that I had to pull and tug at to get off.  I went ahead and added the liver to all the other ingredients, but increased the hamburger from 1 1/2 pounds to 2 pound hoping that it would give more substance since the liver was so.... mushy.

Here are the two loaves before baking:


They actually don't look as bad as I thought they would.  I also added a glaze that had tomato paste, mustard, honey, garlic powder, and a dash of cayenne pepper in it.  Perfect for a disguise!

Here's the final product:



Not so bad, eh?  Everyone ate it!  And they didn't even suspect a thing.  It didn't taste that bad, but wasn't as good as my normal meatloaf.   Not too bad considering we're eating something that is so repulsive to me.

As for the side?  Looks pretty good, right?  Like some yummy mashed potatoes?  Well guess what?  It's PUREED PARSNIPS  (7 peeled parsnips boiled until soft, then blended with some butter, garlic, and basil added).  Even the description doesn't sound so bad.  But they are HORRIBLE.  Awful.  Yucky.  I ate all of mine, but was the only one (and felt a bit nauseous for the next hour).  Couldn't be because I knew what I was eating in the meatloaf, could it?

What an adventure.  I give the meatloaf 2 out of 5 stars, and the parsnips 0 out of 5 stars.

1 comment:

  1. Wow. and...WOW. That's all I have to say.
    Kudos to you for being so brave with all of this!

    ReplyDelete