Higado Encebollado: Mexican Liver & Onions

When you know how good liver is for you, you’re always looking for ways to eat more of it.

As a former Texan (not native, but I moved there when I was seven), I love Mexican food. I’m the kind of person who always orders “extra jalapenos” for my nachos.

If you’re like me and you love spicy food, you’re going to love this recipe.

I didn’t have a recipe for this — I just made it up based on what I ate at Zarela in New York City. The result was almost as good. Not quite! But still very good.

If anyone has any ideas to make this recipe better, please post a comment.

Higado Encebollado: Mexican Liver & Onions

Equipment Needed:

Cast iron skillet
Ziploc bag or glass baking pan

Ingredients:

Beef liver, organic, grass-fed (1 pound)
Bacon, organic, nitrate-free (1/2 pound)
Yellow onion, cut into large pieces (1/2)
Pickled jalapenos — I really don’t know of a good brand I can recommend; all the brands I saw at Whole Foods had either soybean oil or corn oil or sunflower oil — I chose what I guessed to be the lesser of the evils, sunflower oil in Goya; I need to pickle my own jalapenos (1 can or jar)
Worcestershire sauce  (1/4 cup) — I used Whole Foods organic

Directions:

1. Put the liver in a Ziploc bag (or a glass baking pan). Add 1/4 cup Worcestershire and the juice from the can of pickled jalapenos.

2. Put the bag into the fridge and let it marinate for about 4 hours (I suspect it may need to marinate longer; I need to tweak this recipe).

3. Put a cast iron skillet on the fire at medium heat.

4. Put the bacon in the pan and cook until done. Remove and set aside on a plate.

5. Add the onions to the pan and saute until they are soft.

6. Add the liver and saute 1-2 minutes on each side. Do not overcook or you will get that gross liver taste. It should still be pink on the inside.

7. Plate the liver, garnishing with bacon, onions, and pickled jalapenos.

Serves 4.