Calves' liver with red onion marmalade croute

Method

1. First make the red onion marmalade. Place the onions, butter, red wine, sugar and thyme in a large, heavy-based saucepan.

2. Cover and cook very gently, stirring now and then, until the onion mixture thickens and becomes jammy, around 30 minutes. Discard the thyme sprig and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.

4. Roll out the puff pastry and cut out four 9cm discs from the pastry. Using a fork, poke holes in the centre of each pastry disc.

5. Spoon a layer of the cooled red onion mixture over the pastry discs, leaving a 1cm pastry rim.

6. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with onion seeds.

7. Place the discs on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes until the pastry edges have risen and are golden.

8. Heat a non-stick frying pan on the hob until very hot. Brush the liver slices with clarified butter and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

9. Add the liver to the hot pan and fry for 1-2 minutes. Turn over the liver slices, add in the red vermouth and thyme and cook for 1-2 minutes.

10. Serve the pan-fried liver at once with the red onion croutes and a green salad.