Liver

(Crostini di Fegatini) Crostini means "little crusts," and in Tuscany, almost every meal begins with a platter of toasted bread slices topped with chopped tomatoes, olive paste or this all-time favorite spread made with chicken livers. Use thin slices of an Italian or French country-style loaf, and serve these crostini with the chicken liver spread on top, or just present the pâté in a pretty bowl surrounded by the toasted baguette slices. Salami and prosciutto would be delicious accompaniments.

My Grammie Ethel was best known for her cookies and fudge. But she also made a mean chopped liver. What was remarkable about Grammie Ethel's chopped liver was how mild, light and fluffy it was—it didn't taste too much like liver. (This is important when you're eight years old and a finicky eater.) Her secret was the high proportion of hard-boiled egg whites to liver. And the hand-cranked metal meat grinder my grandmother used her whole life to grind the ingredients into a chunky purée. Low-fat chopped liver might seem like an oxymoron. After all, liver is one of the fattiest and most cholesterol-laden substances known to man. By replacing most of the liver with mushrooms (keeping just enough liver for flavor) and by roasting the ingredients in a hot oven instead of sautéeing them, we create a chopped liver that explodes with flavor and is mercifully light on fat. I'm sure my grandmother would have approved. Note: To be in strict accordance with the kashrut, you would boil, not roast, the chicken liver. (This is considered a more effective way to remove the blood.) Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

This delicate cut of meat is ideally sautéed (a quick cook in butter or oil) until lightly browned. Don't overcook!

By the seventies, Julia Child, through her books and television shows, had made French food accessible, and the Cuisinart, introduced in 1973, made many of the cuisine’s more complicated techniques quick and simple. As a result, pâté became increasingly popular, and remains so today.

The Smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes and a quick sauté of blanched green beans with red bell pepper strips are colorful side dishes. Finish with slices of angel food cake sauced with thawed sweetened raspberries and generous dollops of brandied whipped cream.

Bruschetta — a rustic Italian canapé — is the perfect vehicle for the robust flavors of late summer. Serve these topped toasts as a first course or, with a salad and a glass of wine, as a light supper.

This is quick, easy and delicious - the perfect addition to a holiday buffet.

For this recipe we used what the butcher calls the first cut or brisket cut of the veal breast — it's the thicker, upper portion.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Gehockte Leber This forspeis is so simple and straightforward that it is underappreciated as the gourmet dish it really is. My general rules for making chopped liver are: 1. Use only chicken liver to make this dish. Do not use beef or calf liver. Their flavors are too strong.
2. Use schmaltz. Do not substitute oil or any other fat. If you are concerned about cholesterol, eat chopped liver less often, but eat the uncompromised version. Anyway, the amount of schmaltz per portion of chopped liver in this recipe is the equivalent of no more than one pat of butter.
3. Chop all the ingredients by hand rather than by machine. Chopped liver should not look like a puree or a pâté. In texture it resembles French pate du campagne or the Quebecois rillets du gran'mère, coarse and rustic.
4. Eat it in small portions — it is very rich — and make it only for special occasions. Then you eat it less often and enjoy it more when you do.

Forget the usual chopped liver. This rustic appetizer is an Italian treat. Spiedini are skewers of any combination of foods — bread, cheeses, meatballs, fish — that can be grilled or roasted.

Gulyássuppe Hotel Bristol The liver in this recipe enriches the stew without adding any distinct flavor that might be objectionable to those who don't care for liver.

Serve this dish, from chef Matthew Reichel, with potato pancakes or rice pilaf.

Sautéeing duck foie gras is not hard to do, but be careful; otherwise, you'll end up with a puddle of very expensive melted fat.