French · Quick Meals

Foie de Veau Lyonnaise

Calf liver with onions cooked slowly to sweetness and a splash of vinegar at the end. Lyon does it best and does not overcomplicate it.

25 min total Serves 4 servings Easy
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Foie de Veau Lyonnaise

Photograph credit: le caméléon: foie de veau poelé by mu foo · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr

What to Put on the Table With Foie de Veau Lyonnaise

  • Mashed potato
  • Green salad
  • A glass of Beaujolais

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Provençal Ratatouille, French Baguette, Fougasse.

Foie de Veau Lyonnaise, in preparation
Foie de Veau Lyonnaise, in preparation

Photograph credit: Medallones de ternera en salsa de foie gras asado flambeado con Armagnac by Silverman68 · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr

How to Cook Foie de Veau Lyonnaise

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  1. Cook the onions in the butter over medium-low heat for 25 minutes with the sugar and a pinch of salt, until soft, golden and sweet. Scrape onto a plate.

  2. Pat the liver slices completely dry and season them just before cooking.

  3. Heat the oil in the same pan until it is genuinely smoking.

  4. Sear the liver in a single layer, in batches if needed, for 60 to 75 seconds a side. It should be browned outside and rosy within.

  5. Lift the liver out onto a warm plate.

  6. Return the onions to the pan, add the vinegar and let it bubble and reduce for 45 seconds, scraping the base.

  7. Whisk in the last of the butter, pile the onions over the liver, scatter with parsley and serve at once.

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A Few Notes

Onions first and slowly, liver second and fast.

Dry liver, smoking pan, no flour.

Rosy in the middle. Grey liver is ruined liver.

Keeping What's Left

Best immediately. Liver does not reheat well at all.

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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Compiled by Turab

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First published ; last changed .