Monday, January 31, 2011

Stir-Fried Chicken Livers w/Curry and Caramelized Onions


Ingredients:
1/2lb Chicken, Duck, or Goose Liver (though I've never tried it, I would add lamb liver to this list)
4T. Lard, Duck Fat, or Coconut Oil (I used Duck Fat, but think that Coconut Oil would be really good)
1/2 Medium Sweet Yellow Onion, sliced to 1/4" thickness
2tsp. Curry Powder* (I used a blend that I found at Target, but make your own or use your favorite)
  1. Pat the liver(s) dry and cut into 1/2" slices. Heat a wok or saute pan until it's smoking.
  2. Add 1T. of the fat and let it melt briefly. Add onion and stir-fry for 2 minutes, rapidly moving the pieces around so that they touch the entire surface area of the pan or wok, until it begins to brown on the edges but is still crisp. 
  3. In the last 20 seconds of stir-frying, add 1/2 tsp. of the curry powder and toss evenly with the onion. Remove mixture from the pan and set aside.
  4. Add remaining fat and let it melt briefly. Stir-fry liver pieces for 1-2 minutes, rapidly moving them around so they touch entire surface, until they begin to brown on the edges but are still tender inside. In the last 20 seconds, add the remaining curry powder and toss evenly. 
  5. Reintroduce the onion to the pan and toss together with the liver, being careful not to break up the meat more than is necessary.
  6. Plate and serve immediately. **

**I like this garnished with chopped fresh cilantro. 

Curry Powder*
2 T. Coriander
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
3 Cloves, ground
2 tsp. Black Peppercorns, ground 
1 T. Brown Mustard Seeds, ground
1 Dried Red Chili, ground
1 tsp. Fenugreek Seeds, ground
2 tsp. Ground Turmeric

I bought a pound of chicken livers from my favorite local farm and, after perusing my new cookbook, "Primal Cuts", decided to use this recipe (taken from page 19 of the book). Okay, so...these are crazy good! And, I'm not really much of an onion person, but they add the perfect balance of sweetness to this spice-filled dish. If you've been wanting to try livers, because you've heard about their many health benefits, this is a great recipe to experiment with. As for the curry powder, I'm sure that making your own just enhances the flavors of the curry, but my curry powder had these ingredients and tasted just fine.

On a final note...buy this book! It will not disappoint. Well, the only thing that would've made this book better would've been pictures of the final, cooked product...something that I appreciate in a cookbook. Other than that, it's well-written, easy to follow, with plenty of unique and flavorful recipes. Take a peek inside, here.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you'll thank me.

6 comments:

Nadia said...

You made this look good…not sure how! ;) I'm not sure if I'm quite up to the liver part of this eating…yet...

jencereghino said...

The key word being..."Yet". ;)

BJ said...

You ever do anything with cow livers? That's one of the items we have left from our side of beef that I'm not quite sure what to do with.

jencereghino said...

I've just recently started using organ meats, but would try this recipe with you cow liver for sure! And, even if you don't usually care for onions (I'm not a big fan), use them...they add great flavor!

I

jencereghino said...

One more thing...

I think these would be really good served over the "Pork-Fried Cauliflower":

http://jensgonepaleo.blogspot.com/2010/09/pork-fried-rice-wellcauliflower.html

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