Tom Fitzmorris published his guide to Jazz Fest food, and one of the things on it that got three stars was a dish called ‘grilled chicken livers with pepper jelly’ being served by the Praline Connection.
I thought that sounded different, so I went to their website but there wasn’t really any better description than that so I decided to just make up my own way. I didn’t do the livers grilled – I actually made them into the simplest chopped liver, and since I wasn’t sure how they were served, I decided to make it into an appetizer by cutting rounds of baguette toasted, covered with a little hot pepper jelly, and topped with chopped liver. Wow did it ever turn out great!
Ingredients – this will make 15-20 appetizers:
2-1/2 lbs chicken livers
handful of white or yellow onion, chopped (I used vidalia)
salt
olive oil
hot pepper jelly
baguette
Directions:
First, I just sauteed my onions in a little olive oil, then added the (thoroughly washed) chicken livers and cooked on medium-high until they were done (added some salt here too). Drained off the liquid and poured the liver and onions into a bowl, then used my Braun hand mixer to chop it into a smooth consistency. Some serious ugly going on at this point:
I poured a little more olive oil into the skillet that the livers cooked in (so they would pick up a little of the liver/onion flavor that was left) and let them fry just a little so they would be toasty on one side:
They came out nice:
Then I covered the toast with sweet hot pepper jelly (I used Stonewall Kitchen brand):
…and finished by topping each piece with the chopped liver:
It’s not terribly photogenic but oh was it good! I’m definitely making these as appetizers for our next big supper with guests!