661169 Wed Oct 21 09:42:52 -0700 2009 17 31 Home Cooking 0 5119837 Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions... Wed Oct 21 09:42:52 -0700 2009 19782 Full tummy 1 5120263 That's a lot of chopping! Do you own a food processor? Wed Oct 21 11:42:30 -0700 2009 5119837 65673 monavano 2 5120557 Yes, but I have read that the food processor yields a different texture than the hand-chopped method. Wed Oct 21 13:18:46 -0700 2009 5120263 19782 Full tummy 1 5120426 Wow, I've made a lot of chopped liver in my day but never considered hand chopping it. Is it a coarser texture you're after? Use a grinder, that's the old-school style. Chill the cooked chicken livers first. If you use a food processor, just don't over-process it. Are you adding onions and hard boiled eggs? Send them through the grinder, too. Wed Oct 21 12:32:35 -0700 2009 5119837 1095104 bushwickgirl 2 5120554 I have a grinder attachment for my food processor. Is that what you recommend? Wed Oct 21 13:17:25 -0700 2009 5120426 19782 Full tummy 3 5120559 Yes, it's great you have one. Use that. Enjoy. Wed Oct 21 13:18:52 -0700 2009 5120554 1095104 bushwickgirl 1 5120461 My grandmother used a huge wooden bowl with a curved knife, like a mezzaluna with only one blade, or an Alaskan Ulu. That is, she used that until she bought a food processor. Now it is my responsibility to make chopped liver for the family, and I swear by my food processor. Wed Oct 21 12:48:00 -0700 2009 5119837 120180 tzurriz 1 5120492 I use the food processor, but it takes practice to get the texture just right. If you have the grinder attachment for your KitchenAid mixer, that would be the easiest. That's how my mom always made it. Grandma used the wooden bowl with the curved knife. These days, I keep apples or gourds in it. ;) Wed Oct 21 12:57:53 -0700 2009 5119837 52499 ChefJune 1 5120495 My mom used to get great texture using a hand cranked meat grinder with a medium grinder plate; I use the grinder attachment on my KitchenAid and it gives just the right slighly coarse texture that good chopped liver should have (I grind everything together...the sauteed liver , onion, and hard boiled eggs. I've used a food processor on occasion, but it's very easy to over-process and wind up with too fine a texture (like much store bought chopped liver). Wed Oct 21 12:58:46 -0700 2009 5119837 116047 The Professor 2 5120561 I guess that's what I should do, then. Thanks! Wed Oct 21 13:19:55 -0700 2009 5120495 19782 Full tummy 1 5120621 No matter how you chop it, though, the secret to "proper chopped liver" is to use schmaltz, and enough of it. If there is a source for schmaltz, I don't know what it is -- but it's easy to make it yourself, and well worth the time and (minimal) effort it takes. Wed Oct 21 13:44:43 -0700 2009 5119837 76480 ozhead 2 5120681 Schmaltz is rendered fat from chicken fat. The skin of the chicken is also fried and is called griben to be added and ground when making chopped liver. Wed Oct 21 14:06:30 -0700 2009 5120621 133679 classylady 3 5120729 or if you want to be really bad, just eat the grivenes as a treat for the chef. Hey, it's only a few times a year . . . ;) Wed Oct 21 14:21:43 -0700 2009 5120681 120180 tzurriz 4 5120774 Well, I have a bunch of turkey fat (it being mere days after Canadian Thanksgiving). That would probably give a different flavour... The recipe I have, from a friend who learned it from her now-deceased mother-in-law doesn't call for schmaltz. Will have to see how it turns out... Wed Oct 21 14:34:16 -0700 2009 5120729 19782 Full tummy 5 5120828 Schmaltz is schmaltz and turkey fat is not. I've seen recipes using vegetable oil as well, but never tried that. Let us know what you used and how it turned out. Wed Oct 21 14:56:20 -0700 2009 5120774 1095104 bushwickgirl 1 5120999 Being a fallen Jew, I even have used bacon fat to good effect, but my rather Jewish grandmother taught me to "chop" by mashing with an old-fashoned fork, a large one with wide spaces between the tines. Wed Oct 21 16:08:52 -0700 2009 5119837 10483 Joebob 1 5121010 I've used both a potato ricer and even an everyday strainer to make chopped livers. The ricer is pretty easy, the strainer is a bit more work (just force the liver through the strainer with a spatula). It gives a semi-smooth texture, and you don't get that mushy teture that you can get with a food processor. Wed Oct 21 16:15:21 -0700 2009 5119837 10814 sbp 1 5121126 We still have my mother-in-law's wooden bowl and single-blade mezzaluna chopper that was her mother's before her. Must be 75 years old or more. My wife insists on using it for chopped liver. Says it's too much of a tradition to try any other way. Arthritis will stop her one day, but 'til then it's cool. Wed Oct 21 16:59:49 -0700 2009 5119837 11405 Midlife