Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I'd like to eat organ meats but it makes me uncomfortable. I think I could get used to liver spread but I don't think I could prepare those items myself. I realize that we shouldn't be eating processed foods but is there something which I can buy which would hide the organs from me? Like an organ meatball or something.

flag	asked Dec 5 2011 at 1:47 balor123 5,955●2●14●58

	with chop sticks – Bill1102inf Dec 5 2011 at 2:29
	I was going to say - open mouth, insert fork with organ meat on it, close mouth, chew... – gydle Dec 5 2011 at 10:54
	If you are hungry enough you'll eat it. I suggest waiting until you are so hungry you could eat your young. Fry up a little liver. Eat it up, yum. – Marnee Dec 5 2011 at 23:48
	Do whatever you need to to get started, and over time get comfortable. I don't think any plan that requires you to think of forcing yourself to eat things which are 'good for you' in the long-term is sustainable, but there's nothing wrong with starting there. – AndyM Dec 6 2011 at 15:57

Wcc Kamal Stabby fan · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-27 04:12:12Z UTC

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You could buy liverwurst or braunschweiger. US Wellness Meats makes both of these from grass fed animals.

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=821

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Detail.bok?no=827

If you don't feel like buying online yet you can just buy some braunschweiger at your local grocery store and give it try before committing to a large online order.

edited Jan 27 2012 at 4:12

answered Dec 5 2011 at 1:52

Wcc Kamal Stabby fan
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This is how I get my liver: I slice their braunschweiger into half moons, sprinkle liberally with seasoning (like Penzey's Arizona Dreaming) and then roll that up in a thin slice of roast beef. Pretty darn tasty! – Beth-WeightMaven Dec 5 2011 at 2:42

I still can't stomach liverwurst :/ – Adulescens Appetens Dec 5 2011 at 2:48

How do they compare in taste? I'm guessing the Braunschweiger is tastier given the Liverwurst is 20% kidney--& going on Carl's comment about kidney above. I've never had it but find beef liver already pretty hard to take, much less kidney, which many liver lovers don't even like. – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 22:25

Matt · Answer 2 · 2011-12-05 01:55:24Z UTC

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Don't like organ meat? Don't eat it. No rule says you have to.

answered Dec 5 2011 at 1:55

Matt
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Except that it is really good for you, and it is probably worthwhile to unlearn a bunch of bad food habits from the past, and learn new good food habits for your future. – UncleLongHair Dec 5 2011 at 1:57

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There's loads of foods good for you, that doesn't mean you have to eat them. I'm not saying not to experiment and figure out what you do and don't like. But if you try something and you don't like it, you don't have to choke it down because of what paleo gurus say. – Matt Dec 5 2011 at 12:25

Carl_Stawicki · Answer 3 · 2011-12-05 02:21:03Z UTC

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Beef tongue and heart are muscles and taste like beef to me. They only might be weird in texture to some. Tongue is best slow-cooked and I like heart grilled like a steak.

The only way I can eat liver is to smother it in bacon.

Kidney tastes and smells like the bodily function is performs and I won't be attempting that again anytime soon.

answered Dec 5 2011 at 2:21

Carl_Stawicki
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I recommend lamb liver: you can gently boil it or saute it. It's much milder in flavor than beef or lamb kidney, and so yummy. – Sara S. Dec 5 2011 at 2:22

soak the liver in milk and water for a couple of hours before frying to draw out most of unwanted taste – DudleyP Dec 5 2011 at 9:06

Sara S. · Answer 4 · 2011-12-05 02:21:25Z UTC

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I like (chicken) liver barely seared, but I don't think that's an easy initiation to organ meats.

At Thanksgiving this year, someone who had never eaten organs before had multiple servings of the dirty rice (which can be made with riced cauliflower). I think what made it easy to eat was that the liver was in small pieces, heavily flavored, and very well cooked. So that might be a great place to start.

answered Dec 5 2011 at 2:21

Sara S.
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	Is chicken liver an omega 6 issue--i.e. we don't need it so much? – ladyp Dec 5 2011 at 22:26
	Yeah, if you're worried about 6:3 ratio I would opt for lamb or beef liver instead of poultry or pork liver. – Sara S. Dec 6 2011 at 1:18
	But, there are advantages to organ meat that go beyond the 6/3 ratio, so if you don't like beef liver there are still plenty of reason to enjoy some poultry liver. – Kewpie Dec 6 2011 at 18:31

Bill1102inf · Answer 5 · 2011-12-05 02:36:12Z UTC

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Eat some liver or heart or kidney in a sausage once a week or so and you will get your fill without being grossed out by the smell of texture (if that bothers you).

answered Dec 5 2011 at 2:36

Bill1102inf
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Richard N · Answer 6 · 2011-12-05 03:06:34Z UTC

The way I deal with organ meats (beef liver and heart) is to slice them, simmer them for several minutes, process them in a food processor and then put them through a sieve or food mill. The result is very smooth and homogenous with no surprises...very palatable.

Canis Minor · Answer 7 · 2011-12-05 04:19:25Z UTC

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I slice and fry up my Wellshire and US Wellness liverwurst (beef or turkey) and head cheese in Kerrygold, it's like sausage patties!

answered Dec 5 2011 at 4:19

Canis Minor
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Erica · Answer 8 · 2011-12-05 06:27:44Z UTC

Find a really good restaurant in your area that serves organ meats. IMO, the best way to not be horrified by them (if you've been socialized in that direction) is to have them first prepared by a professional. Then, once you have a guidepost by which to judge quality and flavor, you can start experimenting at home. Bone marrow, chicken liver terrine, and sweetbreads are usually good places to start.

Also, if you want to try cooking them at home, pick up The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, by Fergus Henderson. He's a world renowned chef who is famous, in part, for resurrecting the fine consumption of offal.

Jan · Answer 9 · 2011-12-05 07:11:24Z UTC

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I ordered some lamb lungs and beef pancreas from my local farm, along wiht my usual offals and meat this week. Lets see how those taste :)

answered Dec 5 2011 at 7:11

Jan
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@Jan, how did you broach the topic with your local farmer? My meat csa farmer brings a bin of "junk" to the monthly pickups, but it has never contained lung or pancreas. They process their own animals on site at their farm, so maybe they'd be able to save me some lung and pancreas. What was your experience like? – Sara S. Dec 5 2011 at 13:02

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I have been client for this farm for over a year. They do serve me well. I just email them and ask for my odd bits. They know that i am doing this "nose to tail" eating for ethical reasons. I actually got into paleo by eating offal first, then discovered fergus hendersons fantastic cook books and it got me into thinking that this is the stuff we should be eating weekly. Its been a sad two weeks without my daily roasted marrow bones :/ – Jan Dec 5 2011 at 16:17

I will try to make my first offal sausage, it will have kidneys, lung, heart, liver, and some chopped marrow fat. A sort of haggis. I propably will need to source some pork back fat to make it decent. – Jan Dec 5 2011 at 16:24

The offal sausage sounds delicious. When I was visiting friends in London I got a chance to eat at St. John's and it was amazing. If you haven't already seen it, there's a related blog: nosetotailathome.com – Sara S. Dec 6 2011 at 1:22

St johns is truly the offal heaven. I would like to try the blood cake. I cooked it myself from the book. I liked it alot. Sourcing fresh blood is Very difficult here, only managed once. I am great fan of that site, offal done well. – Jan Dec 6 2011 at 19:45

AndyM · Answer 10 · 2011-12-05 11:08:21Z UTC

I guess maybe I'm lucky, we had liver and kidneys in meals growing up. I hated it of course, but then there was a lot of food I hated, and at least I knew it wasn't going to kill me. So when I went Paleo I owned the decision and chose to start with liver. I've got a tongue in the freezer now, and I'm not going to think negatively about it at all. Things actually taste better if you actively choose to eat them, your brain 'rewires' itself.

graciel · Answer 11 · 2011-12-05 22:00:26Z UTC

I have a roasted beef heart in the fridge right now, and it's a little off putting to look at. I either have been slicing it thin and cooking it with some bacon, or cubing it and putting it in scrambled eggs. Stuff like that. I don't get too many hearts every year, only if I get a cow done or my neighbor gets one done. I think if I ate it more often I'd get used to it.

I second the idea that beef liver is kind of strong. I've never had lamb liver, but chicken and turkey liver are good. My grandmother always liked calf's liver.

AndyM · Answer 12 · 2011-12-05 23:37:07Z UTC

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Having now eaten some of the beef liver pate I made yesterday, it is absolutely the best thing ever!

answered Dec 5 2011 at 23:37

AndyM
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Snufkin · Answer 13 · 2011-12-06 14:37:58Z UTC

I've been looking for ways to eat more organ meats too. Yesterday i bought some frozen chicken livers, put them in a food processor to chop into small chunks and added to a curry dish. If you like hot, spicy food this disguises the taste and texture quite well

Tim · Answer 14 · 2011-12-06 15:43:44Z UTC

Here's a great way to get some liver into your diet. I forget where I saw this tip but it's pretty rad:

Buy grassfed beef liver and throw it in the freezer. Next time you make burgers shave off some thin slices and mince it up (still frozen) in a food processor. Now add in that fine ground liver to your beef/pork/lamb/whathaveyou burger mix. If you add too much you'll definitely taste it, but if you do 10-15% liver and season well you'll barely know it's there!

How can I eat organ meats?

14 Answers