RECIPES
Top 50 Gastro Recipes: The Plough Inn - Roasted calves liver
Head chef James Durrant's recipe for roasted calves liver with sage salsa verde, caper, raisins, new potatoes and crispy ham.
Ingredients:
- 4 calf's livers, 140g per portion
- Olive oil
- 50g butter
- Salt
- 2 slices Bayonne ham
- 300ml red wine for sauce
- 50g capers, large
- 50g golden raisins
- 500ml water, cold
- Vegetables
- 200g new potatoes
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 12 baby carrots, trimmed and cleaned with tops reserved
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 75g butter
- Olive oil
- 1/2 onion, cut into 2mm thick rings
- 75ml milk
- 75g flour
- Vegetable oil, for deep frying
- Salt
- 25g sage, picked and finely chopped
- 20g lilliput capers
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 70ml extra virgin olive oil
- To make the raisin purée, place the capers, raisins and water in a pan and boil until soft. Drain, then transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth. Place in a squeezy bottle and set aside until ready to serve
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3
- Place the Bayonne ham slices between two sheets of greaseproof paper and place between two heavy trays. Cook in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes, until dark brown and crisp. Remove and store on kitchen towel in a warm place
- To prepare the vegetables, place the new potatoes in a suitable saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a gently boil and cook until tender. Strain and refresh in iced water and cut into 6 pieces
- In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil with 50g of the butter on a medium-high heat. As soon as the butter starts to foam, add the potatoes and sauté until lightly golden brown
- Add the onions and continue to cook until golden brown. Season to taste and set aside
- To cook the carrots, place in a pan of water, season and add the thyme sprigs. Bring to a gently boil and cook until tender, around 4-6 minutes. Drain and set aside
- Pre-heat a deep fryer or a deep saucepan of vegetable oil to 180˚C
- Make sure the onion rings are all nicely separated, and then submerge in the milk for 10-20 minutes. Remove from the milk, coat in flour and deep-fry the rings until golden. Once cooked, drain the rings on some kitchen paper and season with salt
- To make the sage salsa verde, place the sage, Lilliput capers, lemon juice, lemon zest and extra virgin olive oil in bowl and lightly mix. Leave out at room temperature until ready to serve
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 6
- Heat a heavy, non-stick pan over a high heat and add the olive oil, but do not allow it to smoke. Season the liver with salt and add to the pan. Seal each side until dark and golden, then add 50g of butter and spoon over to baste in the pan while the butter foams
- Place in the oven for approximately 6 minutes, then remove and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes
- While the liver is cooking, warm through the potatoes and onions. Melt the remaining 25g of butter, add the baby carrots and season
