What you'll need

Serves 1

• 2 calf liver* medallions, about 1cm thick
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, plus 1 sliced
• 1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• milk to cover
• salt and pepper to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1⁄3 cup chicken stock
• 20g cold butter

Note: calf liver can be substituted for any lean beef cuts of meat, such as steak.

The easy bit

1. Marinate liver in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, sliced garlic, thyme and pepper and set aside.
2. In a small pot, put the parsnip, bay leaf and milk. Season and cook until tender.
3. Drain parsnip well, discard bay leaf and purée parsnip till smooth. Then fold in chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice and parsley, and season.
4. In a hot pan, add cooking oil and seal calf liver on one side for 2 minutes, then turn and cook for another minute. Rest the meat.
5. Deglaze pan off the heat with balsamic vinegar, then return to the heat. Add chicken stock and reduce by half.
6. Stir through the butter off the heat, add the meat back to the sauce to warm through, and serve on the parsnip puree.