Fancy Chicken Liver Goo

{From Mr. Big Moose}

One of my favorite things about cooking is that you can take things that people normally wouldn't eat and elevate them to absolute deliciousness.

For example, one day I found myself in possession of an excess of chicken livers. What to do with these? Normally, I'd fry up a big platter of them and gorge until I passed out (What?  I'm Southern now. That's acceptable down here.)  But this time I decided to make something a bit more fun (and fancy): Chicken Liver Mousse.

Now, most spreads tend to be a bit on the thick side, but when you combine chicken livers with whipped cream, you end up with something that is light, earthy, and delicious.

Also, please excuse the quality of my photos.  Until my wife lets me buy a mega nice camera, I'm stuck taking pictures with what is essentially a potato.  Also, if you want to skip to the recipe, just click here.

Blurry but ever so tasty

My deity, do you see that deliciousness on a Ritz?  It's a fluffy, tasty, and makes you think of your grandma's house in the country.   So what wizardry does it take to make something like this?  No wizardry at all, brother human.  BEHOLD.

 First, you gotta chop up that onion. I like red onions for this recipe, as the flavor is stronger, giving the recipe a bit more of a rustic taste.  Chop this shit up up in a coarse way.  Do the same with one tart apple, and mix the two.

 See that?  That's a pound of livers.  Rinse them, clean them, cut out any of those dirty grey areas, and then rinse them again.

Heat some oil in a pan, and then toss in the red onion and apple mixture.  Cook this for a few minutes until the onions and apples go soft.  Once those have gone soft, throw in the livers and cook them till they just pink in the middle and firm.

 Take all of that deliciousness and put it in a food processor and let it cool.  At this point, the fancy recipes call for cognac.  But we're in the south, and we don't have any of that fancy French stuff.  What we do have is bourbon.  Throw some bourbon all over that!  You'll want this to head back down to about room temperature before you puree it.

And puree it you will.  This tastes amazing right at this point, but we're not done.

 Whip up that heavy cream until it has medium peaks.  That's fancy talk for having peaks that eventually fall over.

 Once that's whipped up, slowly fold the cream into the liver mixture.  What you have is a delicious, light spread.

I store mine in mini jars and put it in the fridge, it's good for a weekish but it rarely lasts for more than a few days.

Alrighty, here's the recipe in super concise form adapted from Alton Brown's recipe.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped tart apple
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 pound chicken livers, cleaned
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Bourbon
1 cup heavy cream

In a large pan, melt the butter and cook onions, apple and thyme over low heat until they soften.  Remove the lid and turn the heat up to medium.  Cook the livers and cook them until they're firm and pink inside.  Remove from heat and allow the mixture to come to room temperature.   Add the pepper, salt, and bourbon to the mixture and puree it in a food processor.  Chill the puree while whipping the heavy cream into medium peaks.  Fold the cream into the cooled mixture and serve cold. Preferably on crusty bread...or ritz crackers.