Calf's Liver Swiss-style and Duck Breasts, also Swiss-style

Two quick and easy bistro-style dishes

We know that quite a number of people don't like to eat internal organs but it's kind of an insult to an animal to kill it and then only eat some of it, the parts we are most familiar with. Calf's liver is healthy, a good source of protein as well as vitamins A, B12 and C, it is relatively inexpensive and if made this way deliciously tender and tasty.

Calf's Liver Swiss-style

Suuri Laeberli or sour calf's liver is a staple of Swiss bistro cooking and it's simple and quick to make at home.

You need about 150g of calf's liver per person.

An hour or so before you cook it, cut the liver into smallish bite-size pieces and soak in milk (this makes the liver especially tender).

When it's time to cook, drain well. Heat a little olive oil in a wide pan, and when it is hot, add the liver. Cook on a fairly high temperature for just a few minutes, turning the liver until both sides are browned. Do not overcook, which will make the liver tough. Add a couple of teaspoons per person of your favorite wine vineger and then remove from the heat and add a knob of butter to make the sauce smooth. If you happen to have some parsley, a little finely-chopped parsley can be added with the vinegar.

The traditional accompaniments are roesti potatoes and a smplie green salad made from the green winter salad leaves the Swiss call Nuesslisalat, the Germans Feldsalat, the British lamb's lettuce or mâche, as the French do, and Americans corn salad or lamb's lettuce. Roesti - potatoes boiled the day before then grated and fried in a wide fryingpan until you have a browned potato cake - is quite fiddly to make, a risotto or mashed potatoes are perfectly acceptable alternatives.

Duck breasts with sweet-sour sauce

A dish that one meets in more up-market bistros in Switzerland is equally simple. You need one small duck breast per person. If they are larger, approximately half to two-thirds per person should be enough. Don't worry about leftovers though, you can add them to a green salad for the next day's starter. Cut deep, diagonal cuts into the fatty side of the duck breasts. Fry them about 10 minutes over a medium heat until the fat side has browned. You shouldn't need to add extra oil, but you can use a few drops of olive or preferably walnut oil to grease the pan if you like. Pour off all the oil that has accumulated and return the duck breasts to the pan to cook the over sides for approximately two minutes until they are nicely browned. This is enough for pink, tasty duck; if you prefer your duck well-done, cover the pan with a lid and leave for a few minutes. Then add about two teaspoons of red wine vinegar and a desertspoon of honey per person to the pan and sizzle to make a sticky sweet sour sauce. There shouldn't be too much sauce, a teasoon or so per person is fine. Remove the duck breasts from the pan and slice so that each person gets approximately 5 slices. If you think the duck is not cooked enough, return the slices to the pan for a minute. Place the duck breast slices on individual plates and spoon over the sauce. Serve with a green salad or simple green vegetable like green beans or peas as well as potato gratin if you don't worry about cholesterol, otherwise plain boiled potatoes, preferably small new potatoes are fine.