Livers

Chicken livers are sort of a weird one, you know?

Maybe you grew up eating chopped liver, or watching your parents eat it. Maybe you have never in your life heard of someone eating the liver of a chicken but I'm going to go ahead and say there's a select group of people that really love the stuff.

After a fabulous sandwich at Saltie I was really hankering to make some for my parents. This past week, I did just that. (recipe at the bottom)

Cook those gorgeous onions down with a chunk of butter and a little bit of pancetta.

Wooden and demitasse are the best kinds of spoons, agreed?

Viewer discretion advised: internal chicken organs ahead

So what to do with the chicken liver next?

Grab some whole wheat focaccia, and tasty little herb salad and you're good to go.

I made a salad similar to this one but instead of the pomegranate and mint I used basil, cucumber, and watermelon radishes along with the parsley.

For the dressing I used a bit of olive oil and some red wine vinegar.

I also crisped up some pancetta to add to the salad/chicken liver/awesome open faced sandwich.

You'll need:

• 1 pound of chicken livers
• 1-2 cups of milk
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 2 slices pancetta, roughly chopped
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 2 tablespoons sherry
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

How To

1. Put the chicken livers in a large bowl and cover with the milk. Let them rest in the fridge-a-dare for atleast an hour
2. Melt half of the stick of butter in a pan over medium-low heat with the shallots
3. Cook the shallots until they are translucent and softened and then add the pancetta
4. Drain the chicken livers and pat them dry
5. Add the thyme and the chicken livers to the pan and turn the heat up to medium
6. Cook the livers so they are brown on all sides but still pink in the middle, this will only take a few minutes. They should not be completely firm.
7. Add the sherry and cook it down until it has reduced and then add the cream
8. Cook for 2 more minutes until the liquid has thickened. Season the livers to taste.
9. Then removed the thyme sprigs and transfer the mixture to a food processor
10. Pulse the mixture and add in the remaining butter, mixing until smooth
11. Add in salt and pepper to taste
12. To get an even smoother mixture, you can press the mousse through a sieve with a rubber spatula