Liver Brownies and/or Biscotti

by Chris Guenther
(Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada)

Liver Brownies and/or Biscotti

A very high-value treat for training. My dog will not leave the kitchen when these are being made. A pocket full while training makes him really pay attention. This is more a method than a fixed recipe...you can use it for a variety of flavours, textures and hardnesses.

Ingredients:

850 g Liver (beef, pork, chicken, or a mixture) 1.8 Lbs
45 ml Soy sauce 3 Tbsp
250 g Fat, melted but cool (beef, chicken,etc.) 0.6 lbs–3/4 cup
200 g Brown rice, cooked 0.4 lbs – 1 cup
150 g Whole wheat flour 0.3 lbs – 1 cup
10 ml Baking powder 2 tsp

Instructions:

Brownies
Use a blender or food processor to reduce the liver to nearly a liquid, A few small lumps are OK.

Add the soy sauce, fat, brown rice, flour and baking powder; mix well with a spoon or beater.

Pour into an 11X17 deep cookie sheet or equivalent. The brownies will be about 3 cm (1 1/4 inches) high when done. (Save on cleanup and use a sheet of greased foil.)

Bake at 150 oC (300 oF) for about an hour.

For brownies, cool and cut into the size/shape you want. Keep in refrigerator.

Biscotti
As above, but when cool cut into thin strips 1-1.5 cm (1/2-5/8”) thick and load into a dehydrator. Process until very dry at about 60 oC (140 oF), about 6 hours, then break into the size desired. You could do it in an oven at low temperature, using screens to hold the slices. Keeps at room temperature.

Discussion: These are very flexible. The pictures match the exact quantities shown above. This will give you a pancake-like batter and a fairly crumbly brownie, but a nice firm biscotti. If you plan to feed the brownies only, reduce the fat some and increase the flour some to get a fairly stiff batter, more like cookie dough—that will give you a firmer brownie, and a rock-hard biscotti if you do dry it.

I used a mixture of beef fat rendered from marrow bones, and chicken fat from a roast chicken. If you don't regularly save animal fat, lard would do—but the scent of “the real thing” really gets the dog.s attention.

The only seasoning I use is a little soy sauce, and only because my dog loves it. Unless you plan to eat these yourself, they don't need to be tarted up with herbs and spices. The dog is fine with the meat taste! Another dog might prefer a bit of Thai fish sauce or some Worcestershire sauce.