Livermush

[Grizzy]

sissy, I never made it, but this will be my recipe(s).. will have to really study if or how much sage to use.. as you know the livermush should be mildly seasoned. me hope this works for yas... sigh... me jus lub this stuph :yes4:.
~Grizzy~

Liver Mush - Livermush
A southern American food composed of pig liver, head parts, and cornmeal. It is commonly spiced with pepper and sage. Considered a more tolerable version of scrapple, livermush was most likely brought south through the Appalachian mountains by German settlers from Philadelphia. Livermush is colloquially known as poor man's or poor boy's pâté.
It is a regional variation on Liver Pudding. It has a different recipe, including varied spices and seasonings. For some folks there is no substitute - only livermush in the morning will do.
Livermush is commonly prepared by cutting a slice off of a pre-prepared loaf and frying it with grease in a skillet until golden brown, much like you would SPAM. At breakfast liver mush would be served alongside grits and eggs. For lunch liver mush can be made into a sandwich with mayonnaise, either fried as above, or left cold. As liver mush's popularity rises, it is appearing as a primary ingredient in dishes such as omelets and pizza.

Fry up some liver (any liver) and put it in your food processor or grate it till its very finely ground.
Then make up a batch of grits and use a little less water to make the grits stiff. Put the grits in a mixing bowl and add sage and pepper or even red pepper to taste. You can play with the spices that you may like for taste.
Put in enough liver to make it brown and use a hand mixer to mix it up well. Just slowly mix and add the liver.
Put in two eggs for every two cups of liver mush mixture and continue to mix. You can salt it to taste in this process if desired.
Once the mixture is mixed well, you put it into a small loaf pan. You may want to line the loaf pan with foil or grease the pan to prevent sticking.
Cook it at 350° F for about an hour. Make allowances for convection ovens as necessary. Then let it cool and turn it out as a loaf. Once you turn it out, you can put it in the fridge till ready to use. Slice and fry, or slice and eat as a sandwich meat, cold or hot. You can even vary the spices and make an Italian version.
　
http://www.cajuncookingrecipes.com/cookingrecipes/2007/02/liver-mush.html

Basic Liver Mush

1 fresh hog liver
1 1/2 lbs. fresh fat pork
2 c. cornmeal
Red pepper
Salt
Black pepper
Sage

Cook liver and fat pork until tender. Remove from broth the liver
only and grind. Add corn meal, peppers, and sage to taste. Add
enough of the broth to soften mixture. Cook in saucepan until meal
has cooked, stirring constantly. Put in mold. Press down until
cold. Slice and serve cold or broil or fried.

[Wyobuckaroo]

Yellow mustard, or grape jelly ?...............

Saw an episode on the Food Channel about this. Done by one of the guys who travels the world and explores foods of the region. There was a "Liver Mush" festival somewhere in the SE. The locals were pretty much evenly divided between using yellow mustard or grape jelly on there sandwiches.

I definitely would give it a try. Once any how...........

Enjoy
Wyo

[DiggingDogFarm]

Saw an episode on the Food Channel about this. Done by one of the guys who travels the world and explores foods of the region. There was a "Liver Mush" festival somewhere in the SE.

It was the Travel Channel's "Bazaar Foods with Andrew Zimmern" episode "Appalachia" at the Shelby Fall Festival in North Carolina.

[sissy]

Aw thanks Grizzy, It sounds so good. Will put it in my recipes files & try it when things slow down a bit.
sissy

[TEX]

You guys can have my share but thank you - something about any kind of liver gags me - think it is the texture

[Grizzy]

TEX.. this is not like what you're thinking.. it's a dense loaf.

This morning I fried up a skillet of onion in (butter an evoo). Then scooted all of that over when it was tender and cooked thick slices of mush til they were crisp on the outside and warmed thru. Then they were removed while the eggs cooked. We always eat sliced maters with eggs an stuph anna bowl of grapes in the middle of the table which we love, too.

I put a lil chipolte sauce on my mush an eggs, but thas my Texas for yas :D. If I make sammiches out of the livermush.. it's always with mayo. I never heard of using anything else. It wouldn't hurt muh feelers to slap some cooked mush inna hot bissit wif jelly.. but then thas how me lub muh sausage bissits :yes4:.

~Grizzy~

[TnDave]

My grandparents used to make liver mush. We loved it as kids. She would mold it into a brick and keep it in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap. We would cut slices of it and eat it cold or we would fry it in a cast iron skillet with bacon grease. Haven't had it in years - may have to go to the butcher house and get me some liver - that was good stuff

[neparose]

I'm with you Tex. Somethin' bout eatin' inards....Ugh! Not sayin I never would, but I'd have ta be pretty darn near starved to try em. I'll stick to spam and totally ignore the label of ingredients.lol!

[Pokeberry Mary]

Around here the grocery stores sell something called Liver Pudding. I think its a sausage type thing-- comes in rectangles. Maybe its like your recipe?

[rAcErRicK]

Blek ! :fie: Oops, sorry. :unsure:

[KarenBC]

Have you read the Mitford series of novels about Father Tim? They are wonderful gentle books - he makes livermush. I wondered exactly what it was...and now I do - thanks to you folks!

[Pokeberry Mary]

I've been so interested in Southern foods since we moved down here. It has so much history. The civil war in particular was very very hard on people here. There were times when all they had was food that soldiers from the north didn't know what to do with--so they left it.

That seems to have been how black eye peas and greens became such a staple--the yankee soldiers didn't eat it all.

I read recently that it is good luck to eat that on New Years day.

Anyhow Liver pudding or mush--I sense this must have had roots in England/Ireland/Scotland--because that seems to be where many of the people here descended from.

I guess there is a difference between scrapple, mush and pudding here's a link to the company that I see around here in stores. I've seen one of their trucks too--it was a small truck so I assume this is not a very big company.

http://www.neesesausage.com/products/default.htm

[NCLee]

Mary, I buy Neeces Liver Pudding from time to time. It's best fried. It's also good cold and sliced for sandwiches. I cheat and put my sandwich in the microwave for a few seconds to get rid of the refrigerator chill. :wink:

Mary, use of the whole hog, isn't just related to the things you mentioned. It involves making sure nothing goes to waste, too. A frugal lifestyle. These statements are based on how we lived as I was growing up. Part, I'm sure was because my parents grew up during the depression. And, part is simply involved with living a self-sufficent lifestyle.

Using hogs, as the example, it took time, work, and money to grow a hog to slaughter weight. Everything that was thrown away, was investment thrown away. At the end of the butchering process there was very little left that couldn't be used for some purpose.

Mama made a dish from what she called "scraps". Different from liver pudding as it wasn't a loaf. It was more like a casserole. Included liver and kidneys. I regret that I don't have the recipe and can't remember everything she put in it. When it finished baking, it made it's own gravy. It was a once a year treat as it was delicious with hot homemade biscuits.

IMHO, I believe that a lot of what people like and don't like is based upon what they ate at a young age. AND, equally important, that children ate what was put on the table for them. We were never forced to eat anything we didn't want. However, if we didn't want the main dish and/or sides, our choice was a biscuit or cornbread and butter/syrup. Never remember Mama making anything special for one of us, unless we were sick, for routine meals.

The end result, at least in my case, there are only two things I won't eat, if there's any other choice -- even a cold biscuit. Those are large dry lima beans and macko shark. (Oh, and a concockson (sp) that my MIL made with dried beef. :wink:) To this day, I still like liver pudding, fried liver, chicken gizzards, chitlins, and pork brains & scrambled eggs. Once in a blue moon I'll still buy a small can of brains and scramble eggs with them. The other folks here turn up there nose at them. That's not a problem, as it means I get the whole can for myself. LOL

Yes, blackeyed peas and greens are symbols of good luck for the new year. The combo of Hopping Johns with a side of turnip greens and cornbread are good eating, anytime during cold weather, IMHO. We usually have them for New Year's day, too. Plus I like the sales that should be coming up this week, to add more stock to the pantry. Hope country ham hocks will be on sale, too. Best seasoning there is for that mess o' peas & greens.

Lee

[BigOBear]

I reckon I'd give it a go. Does it taste like liver loaf you get from the store to make sandwiches with? I sure do like liver loaf :) Ever tried it as catfish bait Grizzy? Not knocking it or making fun... sounds like it might make a nice bait. Maybe instead of the red and black peppers, mix in a bit of garlic for the bait.

Mr. Lee :) Mamaw always had brains on hand for scrambled eggs and brains. Once (I think it was shortly after I was stationed in Omaha) I couldn't find any in any of the stores and I mentioned it to Daddy on the phone. The next week a package arrived. He'd sent me a whole case of pork brains lol. Next time you see a can, take a look at the daily recommended allowance of cholesterol. Whew.

[Wyobuckaroo]

SCRAMBLED EGGS AND BRAINS..................... ARRRRRGGGGGGG.............

My Dad had some friends from the ship yards of WW2. They were from the deep Cajun South.
They used to send him Cajun coffee and a string of dried peppers for Christmas once in a while.

On Saturday morning he would make eggs, brains, peppers and a pot of strong coffee.....
Learned to love it........
Mom never did.........
Miss stuff like that.

Enjoy
Wyo

[bjacobson]

If you want a how to video check this one out. I love this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ironhead41#p/u/163/4IqtAPeTXGU

[Grizzy]

hey BigOBear :)

Yaknow.. livermush can be a bit dry storebought so I dunno if it'd stand up to being used for bait, cooked in balls might work tho.. but if catfeeshes is smart as bear's they'll go wile over it ;). Thas a great idee coz me jus LUB catfeesh an hushpuppies and cole slaw (suck'n back the slobbers). Tanks for the suggestion!

Wyo.. thas a great memory, tank ya for sharing it. Yeas, things we remember from young days we miss..

bjacobson, your vid shows how simple the process is, an you can tweak your method according to your taste. That was great, Tanks!

Me eat alot of wierd stuph but me jus stop at brains, ya'll! :fie:

Me sure appreciate everbody's input! Truly, livermush is somethin ya jus need to taste before ya decide ya jus don like it. Me never served it to a friend that me had to scrape the plate affer :D.

~Grizzy~