Chopped Liver
There’s the old joke that goes four Jews, five opinions, and this is especially true where food is concerned. So it is with some trepidation that I offer a recipe for chopped liver.
I consulted about a dozen books before settling on the chopped liver recipe in Anthony Bourdain’s Appetites. It’s a classic, with no funny stuff.
Over the years, some people have added or subtracted ingredients to chopped liver, most notably substituting oil for chicken fat. I feel chicken fat is integral to chopped liver, just as duck fat is vital to confit. Without chicken fat, chopped liver is just another sauté, and you might as well make something else.
If you still feel hesitant, here is Jennifer MacLagan, writing in Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient,
Chicken soup really is good for you, but only if it has those golden pools of fat floating on top. All poultry fats contain the monounsaturated fatty acid palmitoleic acid, which is believed to boost our immune system. Chicken fat has more palmitoleic acid than other types of poultry fat…chicken soup, with a layer of fat, will cure what ails you.
McLagan goes on to explain the “French Paradox” had nothing to do with the gallons of red wine our French neighbors were quaffing. It was the poultry fat itself, consumed in all manner of duck, chicken, and turkey dishes.
Pyrex, pyrex, pyrex. In a world full of uncertainty, Pyrex.
If the above doesn’t reassure you, consider this: we are all going to die. No matter how much exercise we take or smoothies we down, eventually time catches up with all of us.
I am not trying to be macabre. Just telling the truth.
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A few notes before leaping in.
Jews will notice I did not Kasher the livers. I am married to an Irish Catholic, and Kashering seemed hypocritical.
Chicken livers are not photogenic. Here is a picture of a gas station. Did you laugh? Good. I hope you did.
Please feel free to render your own fat. Here’s how to do it:
The next time you roast a whole chicken, pull out the wodge of fat inside the bird’s cavity. Place it in a frying pan with some water over medium. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally. The little clumps that form are the gribenes, or crackling. These are delicious in soups, salads, anything savory, provided you don’t eat them up right then and there.
Jews will also notice the bread and pickles pictured are wrong, wrong, wrong. They may feel indignant. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. The food here is generally fantastic. The Jewish food? Not so much. Thanks to Boichik Bagels, we now have real bagels. The rest? As I said: not so much.
Hot pepper oil. Cameo from another cuisine.
If you, like me, haven’t experienced the scent of fried onions in schmaltz since your grandmother died, have tissues handy. You will cry. You have been warned.
Bourdain suggests using a mezzaluna if you have one, and I second that, as I have my grandfather’s, which he used for one task: chopping chicken livers for chopped liver. If not, you can use a large knife or a food processor, but be advised, you are not making mousse or potted meat here. You want some texture.
Finally, there really is no such thing as too much chicken fat. Trust me.
Chopped liver may be eaten on crackers as an appetizer or snack. It is also eaten on seeded rye bread, as a sandwich, for lunch or dinner. When I was a child in Detroit, you could go to the Stage Deli and order half a corned beef sandwich and half a chopped liver sandwich. Your could also order chopped liver alone, unadorned, scooped on a plate. This was called “on plate.” Not “on a plate” or “on the plate.” Just, “on plate.” I have no idea why. The middle of the table held the usual condiments, along with a giant glass jar of pickles stuck with tongs. So far as I know, these jars were never changed between customers. Nobody worried about sanitation, and nobody ever got sick.
It was probably all that chicken fat.
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Chopped Liver
Note: The livers need to be cooked just past pink, but not to rubber eraser. Blood is not kosher, so the pink we normally aim for is verboten here. But take care not to overcook.
How much chicken fat should you use? How long is a piece of string? While ultimately a matter of taste, I ended up using about 1/4 cup, or 60 grams, for one pound (454 grams) of chicken liver.
2 eggs
1-2 white or yellow onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 pound/16 ounces/454 grams chicken livers, organic if possible
approximately 1/2 pound/8 ounces/227 grams chicken fat
salt and white pepper, to taste (black pepper is okay if no white is around)
Seeded rye bread, crackers, or Romaine lettuce leaves
kleenex, for emotional outbursts (optional)
Hard boil both eggs. You want them cooked all the way through; no soft yolks here. Once they’re done, set aside to cool.
While your eggs cool off, place a heavy-bottomed frying pan on the stove. I used a 9-inch (22cm) cast iron pan. Melt 1-2 tablespoons of chicken fat over medium heat. If you own a splatter guard, use it.
Place the onions in the pan. Salt lightly. Allow them to cook down. You want them really cooked and fairly browned, but not crisp or burnt. Cover the pan with the splatter guard, and uncover every few minutes to move onions around with a spatula.
Once the onions are cooked down, transfer them to a large bowl.
At this point you can check your eggs; if they’re cool enough, peel them and add them to the egg bowl.
Place a colander in the sink. Unwrap the chicken livers and dump them in the colander. Run cold water over them. Now, using either a small, sharp knife, or a scissors, trim any fatty bits or green bile sacs. Rinse again and pat dry.
Wipe out the frying pan and add more chicken fat. How much is, again, your call. I added two scant tablespoons to cook the entire batch of chicken livers.
If your pan is small, do not crowd it. Cook in relays, as I did. Turn heat to medium, and fry livers on one side until browned. Take the cooking slightly past pink, and flip. Again, a splatter guard is your friend here. .
You want the livers cooked through, past pink but not overdone.
Add the cooked livers to your bowl of onions and eggs.
Once all the livers are cooked, you have three chopping options. The first is the processor, but take care not to make mousse. You want some texture. The second is a sharp knife. The third is a mezzaluna.
Chop the livers, eggs, onions, and chicken fat until everything is well blended and holds together but still has some texture. Taste for seasoning. You may want to add more salt or chicken fat.
Serve chopped liver between slices of seeded rye, on crackers, or with sturdy pieces of Romaine lettuce. Dill pickles make an ideal accompanyment.
Chopped liver keeps up to five days in the refrigerator. Freezing is not advised.
Notes:
You want organic livers because of what livers do. Chicken livers are still cheap. Even organic livers.
Chicken fat is sold in tubs, or you can render your own. Either keeps well, refrigerated or frozen.
Most hard boiled egg recipes call for icewater baths. I live in a drought-stricken area, so simply wait for the eggs to cool off.
