Lamb's what?? Offal is not awful!!

Lambs fry. WTH is lambs fry, you ask. Here is a wiki on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb%27s_fry, essentially it is lambs liver cooked with bacon and onions with a gravy made with the juices. You can actually make lambs fry with pork, beef or lambs liver. Mum used to make this every now and then using beef liver.

Chanin's cousin Chris gave us some pork and lambs liver a while ago and I decided to use the pork liver for this dish. This is actually a VERY good source of iron and vitamins and I am personally a big fan of this and pretty much any other offal dish, be it heart, tongue, kidneys etc.

It is also awesome the next day on toast with a bit of hot sauce for breakfast. Again, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it and I'm sure there are some of you that like it too.

I got this recipe from Mum but if you are in the US, you can get the livers already cut up for you, so you don't have to go through that drama.

1 whole lambs fry which needs to be skinned (this is a fine white membrane - a bit tedious but important)

3-4 bacon rashers

1 small onion

plain flour for dredging the liver

Method:

Slice the fry very finely - approx. 3-4mm (the fry consists of two lobes so it is easy to cut it on a slope from the middle across the top of the lobe to the side - imagine putting your left hand on the chopping board and take the knife and slice from your knuckles down to your finger tips. Come back to half way up your hand and repeat. This then gives you a nice big think flat slice). Do not use the centre where the main blood vessels go through.

Remove the rind from the bacon and cook the bacon and the rind but don't crisp it. Remove from the pan.

If necessary, add some butter/margarine to the bacon fat in the pan.

Put some flour in a plastic bag and add the liver 3-4 slices at a time.

Shake off excess flour and place the liver in a single layer in the pan and gently fry until the first blood spots appear on top.

Turn the liver over and fry gently for another minute or two. Remove from the pan.

Repeat this process until all the liver has been fried off.

Add more fat to the pan if necessary and cook the onion.

Add flour to the onions and proceed to make a gravy, adding water, a bit at a time until you get the right amount and consistency.

(After I've added the first lot of cold water I then use the water from the potatoes to finish off the gravy. There is usually enough salt in the potato water and the bacon without adding any additional salt). However, I do add some black pepper.

Once the gravy is made add all of the liver, the bacon and the rind to the gravy and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes. It may be necessary to add more liquid to your gravy if it gets too thick.

The secret of cooking lambs fry/liver is not to overcook it because that's when it becomes tough and leathery.

I serve it with boiled peas and carrots and mashed potato. This is real comfort food from my childhood.

I know some of you will turn your nose up at this and that's fair enough, but I am a very adventurous eater and will try pretty much anything...hell, I eat chickens feet at yum cha/dim sum and actually have a recipe for that too! :-)

Enjoy!

Matt