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Calves liver with sherry caramelised onions, crispy ibérico ham and sauce diable

2 people
Moderate

Prep time
20 mins

Cook time
45 mins

Total time
1hr 5 mins

Javier De La Hormaza

Recipe provided by

Javier De La Hormaza

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Ingredients

300g calves liver, sinew removed and cut into 1cm thick slices
100g plain flour, seasoned with salt
20g sliced jamon ibérico de bellota
6 sage leaves
Olive oil
25g unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
For the sherry caramelised onions:
2 large onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
100ml of Pedro Ximenez sherry
Salt
For the sauce diable:
40g banana shallots, finely chopped
50ml sherry vinegar
100ml amontillado sherry
200ml veal jus
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
25g unsalted butter
Salt and pepper

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Introduction

An Iberian twist on a classic liver, onions and bacon by serving the pan-fried calves liver with a generous dollop of sherry caramelised onions, crispy fried pieces of Jamon ibérico and sage leaves and finished with an old school sauce diable made from reduced sherry vinegar and amontillado sherry.

Method

Start by making the sherry caramelised onions. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the sliced onions and a sprinkle of salt. Cook on a gentle heat for 20 minutes or until very soft. Add the butter and cook for a further 5 minutes. Increase the heat, add the Pedro Ximenez sherry and reduce until the sherry has fully evaporated for about 5 minutes, set aside.
To make the sauce diable, place the chopped shallots and sherry vinegar in a saucepan over a high heat and reduce until the vinegar has fully evaporated. Add the amontillado sherry and reduce by half, followed by the veal jus and reduce by half again. Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Before serving, add the butter to the sauce off the heat and mix until fully emulsified, finish with the chopped tarragon.
For the liver, heat a large frying pan with some olive oil and fry the sage leaves, followed by the slices of ibérico ham until crispy, set aside on some kitchen paper to drain. Reheat the frying pan with some more oil, roll the calves liver slices in the seasoned flour and fry for 2 minutes on each side. Finish by adding the butter to the pan and baste the liver all over.
To plate, place the calves liver on warm plates, top with a generous spoon of the sherry caramelised onions, sprinkle some crispy iberico ham and sage leaves and spoon the sauce diable.