Of Cookies and Chicken Livers

New cookie jar; no cookies.

This year I thought I’d try to stem my holiday avoirdupois accumulation by skipping cookie-baking, candy-making and plum-pudding-steaming. (OK, I haven’t steamed a  pudding since 1964 and I can’t remember ever making candy, but I usually do fill numerous tins with homemade cookies.) This oven-avoiding  sloth has had minimal effect on the scale, however, for while I am eschewing holiday baking, I am heartily embracing holiday eating.

Two weeks ago –at the Chronicle FOOD staff party– I sampled some absolutely sublime fare, including crisp little potato lakes, tangy miniature reuben sandwiches and chopped chicken liver that had me returning repeatedly to its little corner of the buffet.

Brought to the party by iconic Bay Area chef/author/teacher/restaurateur Joyce Goldstein, this was the best chopped chicken liver I’d ever tasted.

“Please tell me the recipe is in one of your cookbooks, ” I said to her. (She’s written over a dozen, including the recent Mediterranean Fresh)

“No, but I’m happy to share it with you,” she said.

And I share it here with you. Happy Holidays. Happy cooking. And feel free to send cookies.

 


Joyce’s Chopped Chicken Liver

 

8 tablespoons chicken fat  or onion-flavored chicken fat from gribines ( see below)  

1 pound chicken livers, well trimmed

2 to 3 yellow onions, chopped fine

3 to 4 hard boiled eggs

salt and pepper

 

Melt the chicken fat in two pans. In one, saute the onions until they are a dark golden brown. Reserve. In the other cook the livers until they are medium rare. There should still be quite a bit of pink but they should not be quivery. Coarsely chop the hard boiled eggs in the food processor. Transfer to a bowl.

You may chop the livers in the food processor. If you choose to chop these in the processor, just pulse them very quickly, and in very small batches. You do not want to lose the chunky texture. Add them to the eggs. Then add the browned onions. Add all of the pan juices. Do this while all the ingredients are warm. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the mixture seems a little dry, add more chicken fat. Serve with matzoh.

 

 

Gribines:

Cut pieces of chicken fat into smaller pieces with a scissors. Put them in a large saucepan over medium heat and start to render the fat.

Slice twice as many onions as you had fat.

When the cracklings start to turn grey and the fat develops small bubbles, add the sliced onions and stir well. Cook until the onions and cracklings are golden brown, stirring occasionally. 

Remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly. Sprinkle with salt.

Save the onion flavored fat for cooking.

 

 

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 10:42 amand is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Of Cookies and Chicken Livers”

  1. Julie Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 9:36 am

    Good heavens, that looks good. I’m bookmarking this for the next time I have an opportunity to serve chopped liver.

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