Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is “Mme. Maman´s Chopped Liver”.
Inexpensive and packed with flavor, chicken livers make great fast food. They are also used in terrines or minced up with other ingredients to make a stuffing, or, as with this recipe, a spread.
Since we live in a country of serious Leberwurst lovers, around here, chicken livers are widely available in supermarkets and from butchers. As with all offal, livers need to be as fresh as possible. Other than that basic rule, following the recipe was simple and fun.
The ingredients needed for today´s recipe, are olive oil, onions, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, quatre-épices and hard-boiled eggs. Quatre-épices is a rather famous French spice blend. But when I asked for it at one of my favorite markets, I was given “the look” and a “I know my spices and there is no such thing” brush off – so, off I went, bought the four spices needed and put my blend together myself. I put the blend in a nice jar with an even nicer label and will use it again soon. The spice blend consists of eight parts pepper, one part ginger, one part cloves and two parts nutmeg, all fresh, of course, otherwise the mix will have no punch and will taste bland. If you cannot get these lovely spices though, you can substitute allspice because the taste of allspice with its pronounced flavors of pepper and cloves is reminiscent of the four-spice blend.
For today´s chopped liver, simply sauté the onions and then pan fry the livers in oil for a few minutes until golden-brown on the outside and pink and juicy inside. Then chop the livers finely and stir in chopped eggs, season generously with the spice blend, pepper and salt. I also added some freshly chopped Italian parsley. Then serve on some baguette. And do not forget to serve a few Kalamata olives alongside.
To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.
If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for “Mme. Maman´s Chopped Liver” on page 32.
Andrea, I thought I didn't like chopped liver but I'm reconsidering after seeing a few of these posts this week. I love that you paired the liver with olives, what a nice salty contrast! Your photos are definitely magazine-worthy!
ReplyDeleteChris, the olives were kind of a must.The othe day I found this wonderful market that carries all kinds of amazing Kalamata olives and wonderful fresh herbs - just could not resist pairing the liver with them. Thank you so much for the comment, dear friend!
DeleteBeautiful presentation, Andrea.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid I can not share your love for liver - but perhaps, If it were served to me so beautifully (already completed) I could change my mind.
Have a lovely weekend.
Cher, oh, I can understand very well that there is such a thing as a "love hate relationship" with liver. And I do not mind the least bit. It is the same with many things. Either you love them or not!
DeleteThank you for the kind comment, dear friend!
oh this dish looks perfect for a celebration...must taste delicious,thanks :-)
ReplyDeleteKumar, so nice that you can enjoy chopped liver pictures! Thank you for the comment!
DeleteAndrea, only you could make chopped liver look absolutely gorgeous! I love the rosemary and olive garnishes. We enjoyed this at my house too. Have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteBetsy, ah chopped liver pictures...I did not really want to blog about this recipe (liver squeezed in between cookies) but I decided to give it a go and besides, I needed a break from all these seasonal pictures. I am just glad the photos came out looking like this! Thank you so much for the nice comment! And thank you also for sending me the article about the American heritage apples, I really appreciated that gesture!
DeleteYes, I was happy that I live here for this recipe. No difficulty at all finding the key ingredient. In fact, we even found goose liver, not the foie gras kind, just regular, and it was delicious.
ReplyDeleteRose, that´s nice, glad that you found the liver/key ingredient so easily. That seems to be a good reason for enjoying life around here.
DeleteYou managed to make chopped liver look stunning! Love all your pictures!
ReplyDeleteEmily, thank you very much - chopped liver can pose somewhat of a challenge as far as picture taking is concerned.
DeleteQuite simple and I do like how you have it presented here. I could certainly make a meal of it like this. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteTrevor, very kind, thank you - glad that so many of the Doristas actually and surprisingly enjoyed this recipe so much.
DeleteI never thought I'd say this about liver, Andrea, but it looks DELICIOUS!!!!
ReplyDeleteHester, a huge thank you then dear Hester!
DeleteI'm not a huge fan of livers, offal and such, but Andrea, you have made this sound and look so good! I love the photo with the crostini, yummy! I also love the spice blend and I think that would add the best flavour. Have a great weekend my dear!
ReplyDeleteNazneen, the spice blend will be used up soon. I am making a pâté this week and the quatre-épices will be the perfect spice blend for that recipe - I am glad that I prepared a suffient quantity to have some left over. Thank you for the nice comment, dear friend!
DeleteYour chopped liver looks good. I was surprised by how good this was.
ReplyDeleteThank you - well, maybe more than just good!
DeleteThat photos are simply gorgeous. Not to mention how lovely they make the liver itself look (though I thank you for not showing the in process shots :). You really have a special touch for the presentation. Glad you enjoyed the dish as well ~
ReplyDeleteTricia, you are such a kind commentator - it was a fun challenge to try to make liver look reasonably attractive! Thank you so much for all your thoughtful comments!
DeleteI think only you can take chopped liver and make it so photogenic. I do like how you served it with the olives…I think the flavors would go nice together.
ReplyDeleteKaren, chopped liver can actually be photogenic - I could not believe it myself. Thank you for the comment!
DeleteYour dish looks wonderful. Love the idea of the olives. Mine could have used more accompaniments. But still enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteCandy, what a lovely comment - thank you. This came all as a bit of a surprise - I did not want to participate in the first place but since we like liver, I did, and I am glad that I got a chance to try this recipe after all.
DeleteGrowing up, I wasn't into livers, but once in a while I ate liver, in Yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken skewers) style. My husband on the other hand is more gourmet. :) He enjoys it so much. This actually looks so tasty and great for appetizer!
ReplyDeleteNami, you are being kind, my dear - chopped liver is indeed an acquired taste, a love-hate-thing. We grew up eating liver, so we actuallly enjoy it. Our kids do to. But I certainly understand if people do not enjoy this so much - I tried to make it look as attractive as possible and we enjoyed it that way. A nice recipe for an appetizer and different.
DeleteWe didn't grow up eating liver, although my mother did cook kidneys occasionally she never made us eat it if we didn't want to. I do like pate so I imagine that this would be just as delicious. Just on another note my husband was reading your blog the other day and he turned around to me and said "I want to eat at the Lionesses kitchen" :)
ReplyDeleteMy dear Karen, what a fabulous comment from you and your husband - thank you very much - you certainly made my Sunday!
DeleteHello dear Andrea! We don't eat liver near enough here. Your post inspired me to go out and find some! Thank you for sharing. Beautiful work as always!
ReplyDeleteMonet, thank you Birthday Girl! Liver is one of those things that we all seem to have a special realtionship with, in one way or another! Thank you for the kind comment!
DeleteAndrea, only you could make chopped chicken livers look gorgeous. Each one of your photos, including the last one of Kalamata olives was lovely. I think if I'd grown up in an area or culture where liver and offal of every kind is common, this would go down easier. But chopped chicken livers were not part of my daily life until I was 40 years old. Old dogs. New tricks. And, while I found the paté I made very tasty, I could not get by the health issues - all that oil ( my Jewish friends used schmaltz). Everything in moderation, I guess. xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteAndrea - I love chopped liver but have never seen a coarsely chopped version like yours - and I absolutely LOVE it. Beautiful and textural. And the photos, as always, are stunning! ~ David
ReplyDeleteYour text and photos make even chopped liver sound good (although I'm still not racing to try it!). I just voted for your blog - best of luck with the final decisions.
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteOh I would love to try this!! I love pork liver I'm sure chicken liver is tasty too.
ReplyDelete