What if I invited you to dinner and said we were having ”Foies de Volaille.”
That sounds good, you may say. But what if I said we are actually having chicken livers. Maybe not so good, you might respond.
Folks either love “Foies de Volaille” or they hate them. When it comes to chicken livers, there is no middle ground.
If you happen to enjoy ”Foies de Volaille”, I stumbled across an interesting way to prepare them last week. Nothing fancy, but very good – and super easy.
I had bought two whole chickens at Sam’s Club. My wife Nancy was making chicken pie for guests. When she opened the two packs of chickens, there were 4 beautiful, firm chicken livers stuffed inside the carcasses. I didn’t know that some chickens had two livers each, but apparently these did. They weren’t really enough for a meal, so she asked if we should freeze them. I said no, that I would find something to do with them.
Last night, as I was preparing dinner, I saw the livers in the fridge and figured I’d make an appetizer. They really were beautiful livers, extra firm and not falling apart. I suspect they had never been frozen.
I put the 4 livers on a sheet on non-stick aluminum foil and poured on a little olive oil. Next, I added lots of kosher salt and coarse ground pepper. Then, I sprinkled on a little Sauer’s Chicken Rub and added a pat of butter on each liver. No breading whatsoever, just straight-up baked livers. I cooked them in a 350 oven for 25 minutes, turning once half way through. They were extraordinary. Nancy said she didn’t want any, so I ate all 4. They were juicy, full of flavor and easy as sin to cook.
With this recipe, there will be no more fried “Foies de Volaille” in my kitchen, but I plan to bake some more with olive oil and butter very soon.
Baked ”Foies de Volaille”
1 pound fresh chicken livers (best if not previously frozen)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Sauer’s Chicken Rub
½ stick butter (1 pat per liver)
Kosher Salt and Coarse Pepper
Bake in a 350 oven for 25 minutes, turning once
