Sliced Liver - On My Own

In perhaps the most beloved song from the most beloved musical, Eponine sings "On My Own" from Les Miserables, and reaches a perfect ten on the sympathy scale.   It is a song about unrequited love, a young girl in love with a young man who simply does not see her the same way.  Well, through 31 cuts of meat in my quest to cook all 61, my wife has been by my side.  She even took a serving of braised oxtails.  Now, she didn't try it, but she tried to try it, if you know what I mean.  With the Sliced Liver, I was smart enough to ask, "you don't want any part of this now, do you?".  My suspicion was validated, and thereby I was left "on my own".  I know this probably doesn't reach 10 on the sympathy scale.  But it should be close.

I kept it simple.  I cut up a quarter of a sweet onion into slices and sauteed them.  Simultaneously, I pan fried two slices of bacon.  I kept shifting the sides of the pan to allow the onions to cook in the bacon fat, and moved the bacon to the other side.  Repeated that a few times.  Meanwhile, I had a 4 oz piece of liver that I simply dredged in all-purpose flour mixed with salt and pepper, and once the bacon and onions were a few minutes away from being done, I fried the liver up.  About 2-3 minutes per side.  Now, when I tell you that the liver was the 4th best thing on the plate, you have to realize that it fell behind bacon (who can beat that?), sauteed onions (also understandable) and ketchup (suggestion from Andy at Paulina who swore by his "recipe" for liver).  But how distant a 4th was it?

It was pretty distant.  Let's face it.  You don't see liver on the Food Network channel often.  You don't see it at Chicago Street Festivals next to the funnel cakes and gyros.  And you don't see it anywhere near the Big Green Egg.  But, I have to say that it wasn't terrible.  Let's put it this way, I finished it.  Now, you have to know that I am a "finish your plate" kind of guy.  But I am not afraid to leave behind something I can't eat (see Oxtails).  And I finished it.  Did I love it?  No.  Did I hate it?  No.  Will I crave it?  Never.  Will I cook it again?  Doubtful.  Did I get one step closer to cooking everything in Paulina's display case?

32 down, 29 to go!