Name: Liver is back in the spotlight – would you try this 1970s BHG recipe for zesty liver fondue?
Yield: 4 or 5
Ingredients: 500 g (1 lb) beef or calves' liver; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon French or English mustard; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 tablespoon tomato sauce; 1½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce; ¼ teaspoon onion powder; ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper; ½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs; Vegetable oil; Bacon Butter (Makes about 1/2 cup); 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened; 1 teaspoon french or english mustard; 3 rashers bacon, crisp-fried, drained and crumbed; Creole Sauce (Makes about 1 1/4 cup); 1/4 cup chopped onion; 2 tablespoons chopped green capsicum; 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; 1 cup tomato puree; 1/4 cup water; Pinch garlic salt; Pinch pepper

Following the spotlight that a recent episode of My Kitchen Rules shone on liver, we have been back through the Better Homes and Gardens archives to find a recipe that uses the nutritionally rich yet always divisive organ meat.

We found a vintage recipe from the October 1979 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine and it sounds… intriguing: zesty liver fondue – would you give it a try?

Ingredients

500 g (1 lb) beef or calves’ liver

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon French or English mustard

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

1½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon onion powder

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil

Bacon Butter (Makes about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon french or english mustard

3 rashers bacon, crisp-fried, drained and crumbed

Creole Sauce (Makes about 1 1/4 cup)

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped green capsicum

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 cup tomato puree

1/4 cup water

Pinch garlic salt

Pinch pepper

Method

Step 1

Partially freeze the liver. Cut into slices, about 12 mm (½ in) thick. Cut slices into strips, about 38 mm (1½ in) long.

Step 2

In a bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons oil, the mustard, lemon juice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder and cayenne; mix well. Add liver; stir to coat. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, turning meat occasionally.

Step 3

Remove liver from mixture; roll strips in breadcrumbs.

Step 4

Pour oil into fondue cooker to no more than ½ capacity or a depth of 5 cm (2 in). Heat oil on stove to 190°C (375°F). Add 1 teaspoon salt.

Step 5

Transfer cooker to fondue burner. Spear liver with fondue fork; fry in hot oil until browned, about 1 minute. Transfer to dinner fork to eat.

Step 6

Serve with Bacon Butter and Creole Sauce.

Bacon butter

Step 1

Beat butter or margarine until fluffy. Fold in mustard and bacon.

Creole Sauce

Step 1

In a small saucepan, cook onion and capsicum in butter or margarine until soft. Add remaining ingredients; simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

The original magazine clippings

The zesty liver fondue was not illustrated in the “14 recipes to make the most of your meat dollar” article that ran in the October 1979 issue of BHG. The lead picture on this page illustrates an adjacent recipe of “Savory Heart and Stuffing” which was one of the other 14 featured recipes.