Features of the choice of chicken liver. Useful tips on how to cook it deliciously. TOP 7 best step-by-step recipes: fried and stewed liver, cutlets, pancakes, salad, pate, cake. Video recipes.
Chicken liver recipes are a kind of challenge for the hostess: it is worth almost overlooking, and the dish turns out to be tough, dry or tasteless. But there is no need to be afraid of a capricious product! A couple of practical tips and a few correctly selected recipes will allow you to make friends with him in order to regularly delight your family and friends with delicious, juicy, tender liver dishes.
Features of cooking chicken liver
In order for the chicken liver to be a success, you should start preparing for the creation of your culinary masterpiece already in the store or in the market. It is ideal if you come across a chilled product: fresh, of course, is healthier and tastier, but it is stored at all, so there is a risk of buying a spoiled product. Frozen is difficult to appreciate, it is poor in B vitamins and often tastes bitter, so it is better for a novice cook to opt for chilled.
A "correct" liver must have:
- smooth, slightly glossy surface;
- dark red, almost brown tint;
- sweetish smell.
And in no case should:
- seem too dark or too light, as this is a clear sign of a sick chicken;
- be covered with greenish spots, which indicate a damaged gallbladder that can spoil the whole dish with a bitter taste;
- have a sour smell characteristic of an expired product.
By the way, if you do decide to buy frozen liver, make sure that it does not contain ice crystals that appear when the product is thawed and re-frozen. In general, the presence of ice in any case does not speak in favor of the product, since it may easily turn out that the water was poured into the tray on purpose to increase the volume of the product and, accordingly, the price of it.
The most tender and delicious chicken liver without a specific flavor, which many people find unappetizing, is obtained after soaking, therefore, before you start cooking, put it in cold milk. Wait 10 minutes, rinse the offal under running water and let drain, and dry the chicken liver with paper towels before frying.
Salting raw liver is not worth it, otherwise it will quickly give up all the juice and turn out tough, while your main task is to keep as much moisture in it as possible. An exception can be made only for pancakes and cutlets, which are prepared from already ground offal.
Fried chicken livers don't have to get hard! Keep it springy under your spatula, even at the very end of cooking. Ideally, the chunks should be only slightly harder than the raw ones, which means they have enough juice to make the meal delicious.
Cooking chicken liver is also complicated by the fact that it tends to "reach" even when the stove is turned off due to the residual heat from the bottom and sides of the pan. If you don't want to find after a while that your food of ideal consistency and aroma has turned into slices of tight rubber, the liver should be temporarily transferred to a separate container and returned to the sauce remaining in the pan after cooling. For the same reason, it is undesirable to leave the finished food in the oven: it will dry out quickly.
TOP 7 recipes for delicious chicken liver dishes
To prepare a delicious chicken liver dish, you don't have to be a chef or hostess in a kitchen equipped with state-of-the-art technology. If you take into account the simple requirements listed above and do not be afraid to master new recipes, home-cooked chicken liver will not yield to restaurant food!
Fried chicken liver with onions and carrots
Thanks to onions, chicken liver dishes acquire a richer taste, bright carrots make them more appetizing, and the main ingredient itself, if not overexposed on fire, turns out to be very soft and tasty.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 106 kcal.
- Servings - 5
- Cooking time - 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 500 g
- Onion - 1 head
- Medium carrots - 1 pc
- Garlic - 3-4 cloves
- Wheat flour - 2 tablespoons
- Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Sour cream - 4 tablespoons
- Water - 300 ml
- Salt to taste
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 500 g
- Onion - 1 head
- Medium carrots - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 3-4 cloves
- Wheat flour - 2 tablespoons
- Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Sour cream - 4 tablespoons
- Water - 300 ml
- Salt to taste
Step by step preparation of fried chicken liver with onions and carrots:
- Slice the onion into thin rings.
- Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onion to it.
- Cut the carrots into slices and add to the onion.
- Peel the garlic, chop it and also send it to the pan.
- Saute the vegetables until the onions are clear and slightly golden and the carrots are soft.
- Before cooking the chicken liver, cut it into small slices, removing the veins.
- Add it to the vegetables bit by bit. If you put all the slices in a frying pan at once, the temperature of the heated oil will drop sharply, and it will not be able to quickly form a golden brown crust, sealing all the juices inside. To avoid this, put the pieces gradually, one by one, slightly stirring them up with a spatula.
- Once the liver has lost its pinkish color, dust it with flour and stir well.
- Wait another 2-3 minutes and pour sour cream and water into the pan.
- Now it remains only to add salt to the almost finished dish, stew the chicken liver in sour cream for another 3-4 minutes and remove it from the stove.
Note! Chicken liver with onions reveals new flavors when added to it with bay leaf, rosemary or oregano. Do you like these spices? If this is the case, toss a pinch of dried herbs into the skillet at the same time with the salt and let it simmer for a while.
Stewed chicken liver with gravy in a slow cooker
The beauty of multicooker dishes lies in the simplicity of the process: you do not need to stand over the stove and check every minute if the ingredients left without attention are burnt. In addition, chicken liver with a gravy of spiced cream thickened with cheese acquires an especially pleasant consistency in a slow cooker.
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 500 g
- Medium fat cream - 250 ml
- Hard cheese - 150 g
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 1-2 cloves
- Vegetable oil - 1-2 tablespoons
- Fresh greens
- Spices to taste
- Salt to taste
Step by step cooking stewed chicken liver with gravy in a slow cooker:
- Rinse the liver, cut out the films and ducts, and divide the pulp into small pieces.
- Peel the onion and garlic and chop finely. Garlic can be passed through a press.
- Pour oil on the bottom of the multicooker bowl and send the liver next, sprinkling it with garlic, onions and spices. In this case, an exception can be made by adding salt to the food immediately.
- Grate the cheese and mix with the cream.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture over the liver pieces, close the lid and set to Bake.
- After 20 minutes, the dish can be tasted. Just do not forget to pre-pour the finely chopped greens into the bowl and mix well with the sauce.
Note! Do you want your dish to acquire a brighter taste and mouth-watering smell? Quickly fry the chicken liver in a skillet with onions and garlic before sending it to the slow cooker - literally for 5-6 minutes.
Light chicken liver salad with egg and cucumber
If you decorate this salad beautifully with mayonnaise and fluffy sprigs of dill, you will not be ashamed to serve it on the festive table. But at the same time, it may well become part of your daily menu, since it is prepared quickly and simply, it consists of the most affordable ingredients and it turns out not only satisfying, but also light. For example, they can have dinner with appetite, replacing mayonnaise with a more diet sour cream.
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 300 g
- Egg - 2 pcs.
- Carrots - 2 pcs.
- Pickled or pickled cucumber - 2 pcs.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Mayonnaise - for dressing
- Vegetable oil
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Salt to taste
Step by step preparation of a light chicken liver salad with egg and cucumber:
- Cut the liver into pieces of medium size, dip in boiling salted water and boil until tender: small slices - for 10-12 minutes, medium - 15-20. After that, you can additionally chop the liver, grind it or leave it as it is - at your choice.
- Cut the onion into half rings and fry in oil, seasoning with pepper.
- Boil the carrots until soft, cool and grate.
- Hard-boiled eggs, peel and chop.
- Cut the cucumbers into strips.
- Layer in a salad bowl: liver, fried onions, cucumbers, mayonnaise, carrots and eggs slightly salted and flavored with a spoonful of mayonnaise.
Note! To make the chicken liver salad juicier, pour the remaining oil after frying the onions over the offal on the dish while assembling the layers.
Chicken liver cutlets in the oven
Budget liver cutlets are prepared very quickly, and taste just as good as traditional meat ones. And even better, because it has long been known that, like any meat, chicken liver in a frying pan turns out to be far from as healthy as on a baking sheet in the oven.
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 00 g
- Oat flakes - 150-200 g
- Processed cheese - 1 pc.
- Potatoes - 2 pcs.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Breadcrumbs - 60-70 g
- Vegetable oil
- Coriander to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Salt to taste
Step-by-step cooking of chicken liver cutlets in the oven:
- Rinse the liver, remove the veins and cut into medium-sized pieces.
- Peel and chop the potatoes.
- Remove the husk from the onion and cut it into 4-5 pieces.
- Pass the oatmeal through a meat grinder or coffee grinder.
- Grate the cheese.
- Twist the liver, potatoes and onions in a meat grinder.
- Mix the resulting mixture with oatmeal.
- Add cheese, coriander and black pepper.
- Prepare a bowl of water and a saucer of breadcrumbs. While wetting your hands in a bowl, sculpt small patties, coat them in breadcrumbs and place on a greased or foil-lined baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200 ° C and bake for 20 minutes.
Note! If you take a slightly frozen liver, cut it into cubes with edges no more than 1 cm and mix with the rest of the ingredients, excluding the flakes, and then let stand for about an hour until completely thawed, form fluffy cakes and fry them in a pan, you get wonderful chopped cutlets …
Chicken liver pancakes with herbs
It is not for nothing that they say that chicken liver pancakes are eaten even by those who cannot stand this peculiar offal. Since there are no potatoes or cereals in them, they do not hold their shape like cutlets, but they come out invariably tasty even for beginners.
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 500 g
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Milk - about 70 ml
- Flour - 2 tbsp. l.
- Starch - 1-2 tbsp. l.
- Mayonnaise - 1 tbsp. l.
- Vegetable oil
- Greens to taste
- Black pepper - to taste
- Salt to taste
Step-by-step preparation of chicken liver pancakes with herbs:
- Peel the onion, chop and fry in vegetable oil. It should take on a soft golden color.
- Peel the carrots, grate on a medium grater and add to the onion.
- Slice the liver by removing the films.
- Chop the greens.
- Pass the chicken liver with carrots, onions, spices, herbs and salt through a meat grinder or put in a blender and chop until smooth.
- Add flour and starch.
- Beat in the eggs.
- Pour in milk.
- Finally, add mayonnaise, a spoonful of vegetable oil and whisk again.
- Spoon the dough with a spoon and bake the pancakes in a well-heated skillet.
Note! As the pan heats up, the frying time will shorten. So, the first pancakes will take you 4-5 minutes on each side, and the last batch will be enough for 2-3 minutes.
Chicken liver pate in jelly
An exquisite dish that can become a highlight of any magnificently laid table can be prepared without additional tweaks and as a result you will end up with just a delicious and delicate chicken liver pate. But if you do not regret time on jelly, the result will be simply amazing!
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 400 g
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Butter - 500 ml
- Olive oil
- Gelatin - as much as needed for 1 liter of water, according to the instructions
- Dessert wine - 100 ml
- Cognac - 50 ml
- Lemon zest to taste
- Olives - to taste
- Marjoram - to taste
- Water - 1 l
- Salt to taste
Step by step preparation of chicken liver pate in jelly:
- Peel the onion, chop finely and fry in a mixture of vegetable (1 tablespoon) and butter (150 g) butter.
- Clean the liver from ducts and excess fat, cut into pieces and add to the pan.
- Pour in wine and cognac and let them evaporate. You can skip this step, but keep in mind that stewed chicken liver acquires divine taste and tenderness with quality alcohol.
- Transfer the contents of the skillet to a blender, combine with the remaining butter and blend until smooth.
- Place the pate in a smaller dish lined with cling film and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
- Dissolve gelatin in 1 liter of salted water according to the instructions.
- Pour half into a large mold and also put it in the refrigerator to freeze.
- According to the chicken liver recipe, put the hardened pate on the finished jelly base, place it strictly in the center of the mold, fill it with the rest of the jelly and put it back in the refrigerator.
- To remove the pate from the mold, dip it briefly in hot water.
Note! Liver pate looks even better, decorated with salted butter roses made with a pastry syringe, olives and capers.
Chicken liver cake with carrots and eggs
Chicken liver cake will be good both for a holiday and for an ordinary family dinner, because, despite the fact that it looks impressive, it takes very little time and effort to prepare.
Ingredients:
- Chicken liver - 700 g
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Bulb onions - 2 pcs.
- Flour - 2 tablespoons
- Sour cream - 2 tablespoons
- Mayonnaise - 1 tablespoon
- Vegetable oil
- Greens to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
Step-by-step preparation of chicken liver cake:
- Cut veins and ducts out of the liver, and then pass it through a blender.
- Stir flour, egg, salt and pepper into the slurry.
- Heat a greased skillet and bake a few pancakes. Each should take 5-7 minutes.
- Peel the onions and carrots, chop finely and fry in vegetable oil.
- According to the chicken liver cake recipe, mix the frying with sour cream, mayonnaise and a pinch of salt.
- Assemble the cake by spreading sour cream on the cakes.
- Decorate with chopped herbs and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Note! To make the liver cake tastier and more satisfying, boiled grated eggs are mixed into the sour cream sauce, and for piquancy they decorate the top cake with halves of walnuts.
