Lamb's liver with fried cauliflower and shallots

Serves 4

Pan frying a thick slice of cauliflower may not seem the obvious thing to do with it, but it is quite delicious with offal such as liver and kidneys, whether veal, lamb or pork. If you can, buy a whole liver and slice it into ¹¿2cm slices or get your butcher to do it and remove any sinew with the point of a sharp knife. If you want to splash out then calf's liver will be a good alternative.

Pan frying a thick slice of cauliflower may not seem the obvious thing to do with it, but it is quite delicious with offal such as liver and kidneys, whether veal, lamb or pork. If you can, buy a whole liver and slice it into ¹2cm slices or get your butcher to do it and remove any sinew with the point of a sharp knife. If you want to splash out then calf's liver will be a good alternative.

1 medium-sized cauliflower
8 slices of lamb's liver about 50-60g each
Vegetable oil for frying
Butter for frying
Flour for dusting
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the sauce

8 medium shallots, peeled and finely chopped
A good knob of butter
2tsp flour
¹2 tsp tomato purée
50ml white wine
400ml beef stock (a good cube will do)

Trim the leaves from the cauliflower (do not remove the core) and cook whole, in boiling salted water, for 10-15 minutes, until just cooked. Remove from the water and plunge into cold water and leave to cool. Put the cauliflower on a chopping board and cut a couple centimetres off two ends. Then cut 4 x 2cm thick slices, across the cauliflower. Gently cook the shallots in the butter for 2 minutes until soft, add the flour and stir well. Add the tomato purée, then slowly add the white wine and then the beef stock, stirring well to avoid any lumps forming. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced by half and thickened.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. Lightly flour the cauliflower and cook on a medium heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden. In another non-stick or heavy frying pan heat a couple of knobs of butter until foaming, season the liver with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook in the butter for about a minute on each side for pink and another 30 seconds or so for medium, although I would only recommend pink.

To serve, put a slice of cauliflower on each plate and arrange 2 slices of liver on top. Pour the sauce over and around.