chicken livers for people who don't like liver. trust me on this one.
 

i was never a fan of liver, but i made this and i like it. really it's that good. you don't get that nasty "liver" taste, and when you do taste "liver" it blends with the other flavors.


the cool thing about chicken livers is, they are cheap as hell. i got a small bucket of them for 87 cents. at that price, you can't afford NOT to buy them.


the recipe is a middle eastern dish . breaded fried chicken livers with a dipping sauce.


first get a bunch of chicken livers, trim away the sinew and fatty bits, put them in a bowl, cover them with milk, and soak them in the refrigerator for a few hours (i soaked mine for about 4 hours).

make the dipping sauce -

mix up -

mayonnaise
bit of lemon zest
bit of lemon juice
chopped chives

put in refrigerator.


to make the breading -

mix up a cup of bread crumbs
1/3 cup of dukkah (recipe at bottom)
grated parmesan cheese
zest of 1/2 lemon.

when your livers are done soaking, put them in a colander and rinse with cold water. pat them dry.

set up a breading station.

one plate of flour
one plate of eggwash (scramble up an egg)
one bowl of the breading
a clean plate.

dip liver into flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then on plate. when all livers are ready to go, fry them up in a skillet with about 1/2 inch deep oil (or more if you want). when you take them out of the oil, hit them with some sea salt or kosher salt. serve hot with the cool lemony sauce.


*dukkah recipe in case you didn't see it elsewhere

for the basic dukkah mix, you need


1/2 cup hazelnuts (or pistacios, or almonds, or a even toasted garbonzo beans. or a mixture of them)
1/4 cup coriander seeds
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt

toast the nuts and seeds, throw it all in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, and grind em up. DO NOT make a paste out of it.


you can also add

thyme
mint
fennel

now THAT's an arab dish for you!

arabs love eating offle.

me personally, i usually only eat sheep tongue and liver, sometimes chicken hearts.

i should post some of my lebanese dishes soon.

Yes, yes you should...

******************************

Thanks squeeeb. This is definitely something I'd eat. I love liver!

dlish I would love to have some traditional dishes to try out for friends, post away!

what sort of foods would you guys want? the traditional heavy stuff? or easy to do finger food?

some of the heavy stuff i'll need expertise from my mother or she-lish. other stuff i can manage!

Anything you can offer I'd love to learn how to make, dlish.

Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

ok i'm in the process of moving today, so it's going to make me a few days. i have a few things in mind. ill make it easy. we'll get to the hard stuff later

I lean towards heavier dishes myself, I'll try anything out once. Personally I'm a fan of one pot wonders, great meals that end up in one bowl. That's just me tho.

I'll take anything you throw at me, I've never had any Lebanese dishes before, I want to try it out tho.

Sqeeb! I love offal... and I love chicken livers. I am going to have to try this recipe. I usually just sautee my chicken livers in some garlic and butter but this sounds awesome.

dlish... you definitely need to post some recipes. I think you've been holding out.

ive had some major hiccups with my move charl..so ive not been in a frame of mind to post anything substancial here..

i have been holding out..you're right!

I've yet to experiment with offal.

I'd probably have to hide the origin of the meat from Magpie until after she'd safely eaten and enjoyed it.

She refuses to try escargot, despite my assurances that it's delicious.

We're having breaded drumsticks tonight. Maybe work our way up.

This sounds like a great recipe to make in a different season. It's just too hot here in Texas at the moment.

Do you have any recipes using chicken livers as a stuffing, squeeeb?

Chicken Liver And Sage Stuffing

INGREDIENTS

200g chicken livers
25g butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 large Spanish onion
1/4 cup verjuice
1/4 bunch parsley, shredded
Salt and pepper

Sauce

2 Tbs sherry vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock

METHOD
Combine butter and oil in a saucepan over a moderate heat, when foaming add livers and brown. Remove livers from pan, and set aside until cool.

Return pan to heat, add onions and caramelize, approximately 3 minutes. Deglaze pan with verjuice, and reduce until almost all liquid has evaporated. Add parsley leaves and seasoning. Set aside to cool.

Place butterflied chicken skin side down on a clean surface, spread with onion mixture, then top with livers. Roll lengthways, to form a log shape, being careful not to lose any filling.

Firmly tie chicken in 2-cm intervals with butcher's twine.

Heat a large ovenproof frying pan with a little oil and butter, and brown chicken on all side. Place in a preheated 160oC oven for approximately 30 minutes. Basting every 10 minutes with the pan juices.

Remove from oven once cooked and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes

For the sauce, remove any remaining fat from the roasting pan, return to a moderate heat and add the sherry vinegar and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and reduce liquid by half.

Serve sauce over carved chicken accompanied with roast pumpkin, wilted spinach and parsnips.

Mmmm, that sounds good, Charlie. Thanks.
I've never heard of verjuice. (goes a-googling)

I don't go looking for verjuice... I just use lemon juice instead.