Chicken livers with onions

Two things caught my eye at the butcher’s today. Both meat. Both from birds. Duck breast and chicken livers. I was actually going to make myself kung pao duck today (not to be confused with kung pao chicken), but then I thought, “Better fortify myself for the evening.” So I went with the livers.

I’ll admit the occasion had something to do with it too. It is Women’s Day, after all, and I reckon every woman dreams of her bloke (her partner, male or female, let’s be inclusive) having a healthy liver. And it struck me that this could be my wish for all women today. Ladies, may your bloke always have a healthy liver!

You should also know that liver does wonders for the heart. So it all ties in beautifully with Women’s Day.

Unfortunately I can’t recall a single poem by the Scandinavian poet who disappeared in Białowieża Forest back in fifty-four of the last century, when he first tasted genuine Polish chicken livers. Whether the disappearance had anything to do with the local moonshine he sampled with his meal has never been established. The poem vanished along with the Scandinavian poet 😉

Funny thing is, I haven’t cooked livers in ages, though they seem tailor-made for Prymitywna Kuchnia. I did eat some quite recently, and I have to say they weren’t nearly as good as the ones I’m serving you today. A bit tough. No idea what makes them turn out that way. Mine never do. Two possible reasons: old livers (too long on the shop counter) or too long in the pan (highly likely, though the theory’s untested because I never fry mine too long 😉

I ate those livers in rather interesting surroundings and circumstances. Like a pair of true intellectuals, a friend and I recently went to the Teatr Polski to see Twelfth Night. And as befits old-school (we’re no spring chickens, we remember communist Poland), respectable (sometimes) intellectuals (my friend certainly qualifies, he works in television), before the theatre we stopped at the kind of establishment that serves a large shot of vodka and a bite to chase it.

My friend ordered steak tartare (not my thing). I hesitated, knowing how lethal it can be to order liver when eating out (posh, la-di-da foie gras is another matter, but this wasn’t a la-di-da establishment). Tough, stale, awful. But I took the plunge, because after the theatre we had the kind of evening planned that intellectuals prefer not to discuss. It wasn’t bad. Could’ve been worse. But my version is miles better. Give it a try!

At a glance: 

Preparation time: about 15–20 minutes

Serves: this amount should do for two

Calories: shouldn’t the question be how many shots?

Ingredients for tender chicken livers:

• 40 dag fresh poultry livers
• 2 small onions
• two tablespoons of wheat flour
• a teaspoon of sugar
• salt
• ground black pepper
• olive oil

Method (yum):

I washed the livers thoroughly, trimmed off the “ugly” bits and cut out the veins. I try to pick smaller pieces of poultry liver, too. They’re more tender. 

I patted the trimmed livers thoroughly dry with a paper towel, put them in a bowl, salted them just a little and gave them a generous (but not excessive) grinding of pepper. I put the flour in a second container, coated the seasoned livers quite thoroughly in it and set them aside.

I finely chopped the onions, heated the olive oil in a frying pan and added the onions. I sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar over them and stirred. Once they were translucent, I transferred them to a small bowl, trying to leave the hot oil in the pan.

I added a little more oil. When it was hot again (my “heat” was on 5 on a scale of 1 to 10), I laid the livers in the pan. After about 2 minutes I turned each one over. Three minutes later I spooned the onions over them and mixed everything well. I fried them for about another 3–4 minutes. Done.

I served the livers with dark bread and pickled cucumbers. Yum. Enjoy!