Chicken livers?

So, I have a pound of chicken livers and want to use them for dinner tonight. You Hounds have any ideas on a good and tasty way to do so?

[2chez mike]

I like to sear them, in butter, in a pan with salt, pepper, sage and marjoram. Add some chopped or crushed garlic near the end of cooking.

This is great over pasta. Reserve a tablespoon, or so, of the pasta water to deglaze the pan and make a sauce. Just enough to coat the pasta, which you add to the pan and toss at the very end.

Plate and top with fresh grated parmesan or romano.

[DreamCyn]

just stumbled onto this recipe while looking for dinner ideas, and I can't wait to try it;

http://www.food.com/recipe/stolen-gar...

Just thought I'd share.

[junescook]

We love them but because they're kind of rich we don't have them very often. Last time I made them I seasoned them with a blend (maybe Montreal chicken seasoning), then rolled them in panko crumbs. Then I gave them a little spray of Pam and popped them into a 425o oven for maybe 15 minutes, until they were a little brown and crisp on the outside but still nice on the inside.

(I really wanted to post this to capture all of these other ideas here)

[DGresh]

saw this thread and couldn't help but remember last season's top chef when Jen (in wine country) made chicken livers with clams. I made it myself and my husband and I loved it (though I had to do without the ver jus and I'm quite sure I did not find cabernet grapes!)

Sautéed Chicken Livers, Clams, Cabernet Grapes, Wild Mushrooms and Tendrils
http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipe...

[chef chicklet]

Other than fried straight up this has to be my favorite preparation.

Italian chicken livers with Peas. I coat the chicken liver in flour, and fry them. Brown the exterior nicely. I like to add rings of white onions cut fairly thin as the chicken livers are browning. Remove the livers, set asdie, then add the marinara sauce to the pan.
Basic marinara sauce
Add red wine to the marinara sauce,10 minutes before serving add frozen peas. Drop the chicken livers in the sauce and peas, simmer another 5 minutes, and serve with pasta of your choice. Top with romano cheese and Italian parsley.

[pasuga]

1 lb cleaned chicken livers
1 jalapeno, minced (can remove seeds if you want less heat)
4 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
8 oz plain full-fat yogurt
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper if you want, don't think the recipe needs it

I usually toss the butter, garlic, and jalapeno in my mini food processor and grind them together. Recipe will have a bit more texture if you chop by hand.

Combine everything in an 8 x 8 glass baking dish and cook at 350 for 30 minutes - stir every 10 minutes so the livers don't get too brown on one side. Serve with rice. Which usually takes about the same amount of time if you cook stove-top, so it works out nicely.

Many years ago I brought some leftover chicken livers to work, heated up in the microwave for lunch. (1 lb lightly floured, sauteed in butter or oil with a chopped up onion and green pepper, and then simmered in white wine for about 20 minutes.) A friend popped in while I was eating and said, "That smells great - can I try some?" She took a bite. "Delicious, was IS that??" "Chicken liver." I felt terrible, it's the only time I've ever actually seen someone clutch their throat and turn green.

[souschef]

Strange that it was delicious until you told her what it was! It should have expanded her horizons.

[pasuga]

Well, it's a good example of an aquired food aversion. She'd never eaten any kind of liver before, had no idea how it tasted, but had a real horror about the concept. Her reaction was so extreme it reminded me of the kids in the Narnia book who suddenly realize they've been eating a talking animal. You read about people's complexions "turning green" - it actually does happen! I was apologizing for weeks.

[scubadoo97]

Old post I know but

When I break down a chicken I always cook the liver on the spot as the cooks treat. This is one of my favorite ways. Slice shallots sweated down and then the liver added and browned on both sides but left pink in the center. Finish with port wine which is reduced. To make it even richer a spot of cream added to the port before the reduction takes it over the top.

You could certainly do something along these lines with a pound of livers

[souschef]

Every recipe I have seen for chicken livers tells you to leave them pink in the centre, but I have never seen an explanation as to why that is ok, whereas pink chicken is okay. Anyone ?

BTW I love chicken liver, calf liver, foie gras, etc.

[souschef]

Sorry, meant to say pink chicken is NOT okay.

[scubadoo97]

I've wondered that myself but have never had a problem eating them that way

[bbrownri]

I've just finished enjoying some chicken livers with shallots, dates and Port wine sauce. I sautéed the shallots and an onion in butter, added the dates to soften a bit, then some 10 year old tawny Port (tawny has a nice nutty flavor which combined well with the earthy livers). Tossed in the livers and sauteed until done, adding a dash more Port every now and then as it looked like the skillet was drying out. Served with a radish, cucumber salad tossed in lemon juice.

[DreamCyn]

I know this is an old thread, but I stumbled onto it and was curious;
I really want to try getting chicken liver & heart at the local asian super market because its so very very cheap, but my boyfriend says he won't touch it! And I've never cooked it (I've accidentally eaten organs-gizzards?- in duck and quail served at asian restaurants, and never had a problem with the flavor) so I don't know how to convince him otherwise!

Anyone have any ideas on how to make liver or heart for a first timer and a super picky eater??

[BigSal]

I have found that adding liver to a Ragu Bolognese lends a delicious richness and depth to the sauce. My liver averse boyfriend eats the ragu without abandon (unlike the liver that I made on the grill yakitori style).

[shanagain]

Dirty rice. I make it every year for a bunch of, shall we say, as-of-yet uneducated palates (I'm not being mean - I'm talking about cooking for my kid's class & teachers during their "Winter Feast in a tiny rural western TX town). I get requests every year I've made it, but it's the one recipe with which I play coy - not because I don't want to share, but because I'm nervous what the reaction might be. ;)

This is as close to my recipe as you can get - I just sub out the gizzards for livers if I don't have any gizzards around:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southern...

[coll]

I know what you mean, chicken livers are my secret ingredient in cannelloni (among other things) and SIL adores them. She wanted to make for company, but when she got the recipe wanted to know if she could leave them out. Even though she LOVES my cannelloni more than anyone's. The whole family is like that, I made dirty rice for BIL a few weeks ago and he blurts out at the table "These have liver in it, right?" (He watches Food Network so thinks he knows everything) I said, thanks for ruining it for your brother, Dirty Rice was the only rice he liked until now.....

[DreamCyn]

Will definitely try that! Sounds awesome, thanks!!

[EricMM]

I'm not a big fan of chicken livers, but my wife bought some and I decided to try a different way to cook them...sauteed onions, sweet peppers, chorizo, oyster mushrooms, and a few grape tomatoes....added some salted capers, some white wine, and the livers...then added some cumin and powdered habanero...when it was finally done, I added cilantro. It was as good as I'm likely to get with them.

Many thanks for the posts.

Ended up browning a little pancetta, removed it, browned onions in the fat, added some butter, sauteed the floured chix livers until just barely done, put the pancetta back in.

Served them drizzled with a few drops of Villa Manodori balsamic, eggs scrambled very, very slowly with too much butter, good bread. Very tasty.

How about with pasta? Say, linguine. For the chicken livers: first rinse them and dredge them in flour with some salt and pepper added. Then, saute a chopped shallot in a little olive oil; when almost translucent, add some butter and about a cup of sliced mushrooms and saute until nicely browned. Remove shallot and mushrooms from pan and set aside. Add more butter to pan if necessary; add chicken livers and gently saute them until they are brown on the outside and their juices start to run (I like them pink on the inside). Remove them from the pan (you can put them with the shallot/mushroom mixture) and deglaze with a splash of brandy, dry vermouth, marsala, or other cooking wine. If you want a creamy sauce, add some cream or half-and-half; if not, add water or chicken stock and reduce it until slightly thickened. When it has reached the desired thickness, turn heat to low (or off). Meanwhile, cook your pasta; when it is almost done, return the chicken livers, shallot and mushrooms to the sauce and heat just to the bubble; toss with drained pasta and serve.

I really love them wrapped in a bit of bacon and then pan fried. MMMM!

You could also saute them with garlic, onions, and mushrooms - then simmer in a basic tomato sauce and make yourself "Spaghetti Caruso". Try googling that phrase for a bunch of recipes.

Chopped liver is a classic option. Many great recipes on epicurious or foodnetwork. You can then put it on rye bread or on some greens.
You could also do them in an asian stir fry with a thickened garlic sauce and serve over white rice.
Or, you could do them very simply (my favorite) and brown them with butter in a cast-iron pan, salt them, and serve however you want.

Several restaurants here in the bay area serve sauteed chicken livers on their salad and it's one of my wife's favorites. It's normally a salad with frissee and perhaps a few other greens. Many times it's a warm vinegarette using the oil in the pan the livers were cooked in. It is very good.

I was just about to post this French idea. I've had that salad (with butter lettuce, sauteed chicken livers and dressing) in several restaurants in Paris. Very good. Served with warm, crusty bread.

Fried chicken livers, oh yeah. Melt a little pepper jelly to use as a dipping sauce. With a side of baby green limas & rice. Mmm--hmmm.

Though I've never cooked them myself, one of the best chicken liver dishes I ever had was at a local restaurant here on the north shore of Massachusetts. It was an appetizer of chicken livers marsala.

The combination of rich chicken liver with the slightly sweet/acidic marsala sauce with mushrooms was outstanding.

Just make sure not to overcook the liver! My father taught me that great liver should be slightly charred on the outside and pinkish in the middle! Of course the fact that it was smothered in bacon and onions never hurt either!

Cheers...

Gusman

Chopped liver!

Clean them, saute them then grind them up with one sauted onion, 6 (or more) hard boiled eggs and some salt and pepper. The more onion, the sweeter.

or...

Toss in flour, fry and make milk gravy.