Chicken Livers Bourguignonne

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Elevating Humbleness ...

A little recipe to confirm the rumour that the humble chicken liver can indeed dust of its tuxedo, don the bling and jovially proceed to join illustrious company at the opera with great bonhomie and aplomb. However, chicken liver does not easily become forward or snooty, its earthy nature does not readily allow this.

The fancy, somewhat tongue in the cheek title is my own. The bourguignonne treatment is an old French culinary technique where a protein is prepared with (or in) red wine, supported with bacon (or salted pork), mushrooms and onions. Less frequently it also refers to recipes in the culinary style of the Burgundy region.

This dish is ideal for your more adventurous dinner table companions who will appreciate the somewhat irreverent jab at haute French Cuisine. Serve the dish with Moroccan style couscous or cream laden, mashed potatoes and a serious, full sized Bordeaux in your goblet.

CHICKEN LIVERS BOURGUIGNONNE

– PRINT RECIPE – 

Recipe yields: 4 Portions (as a starter)

Preparation time: ± 25 minutes

Cooking time: 35 min

Difficulty level: Easy

Special Equipment Required:

1 x Spiral type wire whisk

Ingredients:

Roughly chopped streaky bacon	100 g
Thickly sliced white mushrooms	250 g
Medium sized onions	2
Chicken livers	500 g
Cabernet sauvignon red wine	125 ml
Large bay leaves	3
Sunflower oil	15 ml + 15 ml
White sugar	15 ml
Chopped garlic	10 ml
Corn flour (Maizena)	7.5 ml
Robertsons Barbeque Spice	7.5 ml
Salt	7.5 ml
Mustard powder	2.5 ml
Dried oregano	2.5 ml
Fine black pepper	1.25 ml
Fresh or sour cream	30 ml
Cold water	30 ml + 30 ml

Method:

1.      Start with the chicken livers: For the best results, defrost the frozen livers overnight in a refrigerator. Wash it thoroughly under running water in a colander and shake dry. Transfer the livers to a cutting board and carefully remove the gall bladders (if any are present) with a sharp utility knife. Also cut away any membranes and tubes. Divide any big, whole livers in half where the two lobes meet. Rinse the livers a second time and place it in a glass or plastic bowl – don’t use a metal bowl.

2.      Halve the onions lengthwise. Use a sharp, thin bladed, kitchen utility knife to cut the onions (starting at the stem end) into thin slices, approximately as thick as a wooden match. It is difficult to cut such thin slices with a full sized chef’s knife. Thinly sliced onion caramelizes faster and more uniformly than thicker cuts.

3.      Fry the streaky bacon and first, 15ml portion of oil in a large sauté pan until crisp and browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, retaining as much bacon fat as possible, and put it aside until later. Do not discard the bacon fat.

4.     Sauté the mushrooms in the bacon fat over high heat until it is thoroughly browned and leathery. Scrape up as much as possible of the material stuck to the pan bottom once the mushrooms start rendering their juices. The mushrooms will eventually absorb all the bacon fat. Transfer the fried mushrooms to the cooked bacon.

5.     Pour the remaining 15ml oil into the same pan and heat over medium high heat. ‘Roll’ the pan to fully cover the pan bottom with the hot oil and add the onions. Sauté the onions until soft, ‘dry’ and translucent. Add the sugar and mix well. Adjust the heat to medium low and sauté the onions until properly browned, but not charred. This will take approximately 15 – 20 minutes. Stir the onions frequently as it will char in the blink of an eye. Remove the caramelized onions and transfer it to the bacon and mushrooms. Keep warm.

6.      Add the livers in one batch and spread it out into a uniform layer over the pan bottom. Fry for 2 minutes over high heat WITHOUT stirring. Use a thin blade egg lifter and turn the livers. Fry for a further 2 minutes on the other side as well. Adjust the heat down to medium and move the large pieces of liver that still appears to be bloody to one side. Remove the rest of the cooked livers and transfer it to the onions, mushrooms and bacon. Turn the remaining pieces in the pan and sauté a further 30 seconds. Remove and put with the rest of the livers.

7.      Put the pan back and adjust the heat to medium high. Pour in the red wine, add the bay leaves and stir well. Use the spiral wire whisk to continuously stir the wine and lift any residues clinging to the bottom of the pan. Boil the wine down until ± 50 % of liquid remains. Adjust the heat down to low.

8.      Mix the garlic, corn flour, spices, herbs, cream, salt and first portion of water in a suitable bowl. Stir thoroughly. Add this mixture to the reduced wine and stir until the sauce starts to simmer and thicken. Do not remove the bay leaves.

9.      Return the bacon, mushrooms and livers to the pan and the thickening sauce. Stir through thoroughly, but carefully with a wooden spoon so as not to break up the cooked livers. Add the second portion of water, if necessary.

10.  Cover the pan and warm the contents until it just starts to simmer. Immediately switch off the heat. Stir a final time and remove the bay leaves. Allow the dish to rest 5 minutes to develop the flavours and serve to general, appreciative acclaim.

Comments:

¨   Serve this dish as a proper main meal along with your best table linens, polished silver ware and finest crystal.

¨   White button mushrooms are the true sadomasochists of the vegetable world. The cook needs to do his worst to them to bring out the best in them flavour wise. Use Portobello mushrooms for a more pronounced mushroom flavour.

© RS Young, 2017

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Note:

Post updated on 2024.03.18 to include:

1. The updated Recipe for downloading as a PDF file, and

2. Recipe Title and Print Recipe, Recipe Index and Facebook & Pinterest follow links.

Well Browned Mushrooms

At the opera