Lamb's liver stroganoff

Please don’t go away if you don’t like offal! This recipe will work in precisely the same way – and with the same timings – with fillet steak. But for those who do like it, there is an incredible bonus: even given the effects of recession and the hard times around, fine dining is still within reach. Lambs liver is a case in point. Just 225g for the recipe below feeds two amply, and mine cost all of 84p. That said, there’s nothing frugal about the finished dish. It’s rich, luscious and full of flavour.

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Method

To prepare everything, you need to take your sharpest knife and, after drying the pieces of liver with kitchen paper, slice them into small strips (the length is not important, but they must be thin). The onion should be peeled and also sliced fairly thin, and the mushrooms sliced the same through the stalk. Add a teaspoon of oil to a medium-sized frying-pan and allow it to get really hot and beginning to shimmer. Add the onion then turn the heat down to medium and cook (keeping it on the move) for five minutes. After that add a teaspoon of butter and when it’s foaming add the sliced mushrooms and cook these for a further five minutes or so. Then, using a draining spoon, remove the onions and mushrooms to a plate and keep warm.

Next add the other teaspoon of butter and when it is melted and is foaming turn the heat up to high and add the strips of liver. Cook these very briefly – about one or two minutes – tossing them around, then add the wine and let it bubble a little before returning the onions and mushrooms to the pan. Now season and add the crème fraîche along with a good grating of nutmeg. Stir everything around to blend evenly, then serve as soon as possible (if the liver is over-cooked it tends to be dry). Plain basmati rice is a good accompaniment.