When you hear the word pâté, do you start to salivate or do you start to gag (even though you may have never tasted the dish). I’m telling you that you need a bit of chopped chicken liver in your life! It’s basically a pâté. That’s it! If you want to be traditional, enjoy some on matzo crackers. If you don’t have matzo crackers on hand, chopped chicken liver can be enjoyed by spreading some on sliced baguettes or your favorite crackers.

**My Chopped Chicken Liver Garnished with Fried Chicken Skin, Chopped Hard=Boiled Eggs, and Chopped Parsley**

What is Pâté

Pâté was originally considered a humble peasant dish. It was developed to use all the parts of an animal so that no food went to waste. Pâté is made with forcemeat. Forcemeat is a blending of ground meat with fat, herbs, spices, and sometimes wine or liquor, such as Brandy, Cognac, or Armagnac. It is cooked and then served cold. Pâté can be made from various types of meat, such as pork, duck, or chicken liver, or vegetables, such as mushrooms.

Back to Chopped Chicken Liver

Now that the history lesson is over. Do you think you must be further convinced that chopped chicken liver is the bomb? Well, here we go! Chicken liver by itself may not sound appetizing. But when you add steps to the recipe like sautéing the chicken livers in chicken fat (called “schmaltz”). And like browning the onions to increase the flavor, you have a rich and savory appetizer perfect for events with family and friends. Including eggs in the recipe adds some tenderness while diluting the intensity of the liver. Do you still, need convincing??

There’s Health Benefits!

The added benefit is that the dish is highly nutritious, and packed with essential vitamins and minerals. Chopped liver is a powerhouse of nutrients, including iron, vitamins A and B12, folate, and protein. Iron helps your body use oxygen and make red blood cells, while vitamin A is good for eye health and vitamin B12 supports brain function.

Let’s Talk About the Process

You are going to love the process of making chopped chicken liver. It seems like every time you go through a step, you are snacking…It’s a rule that we are required to taste our food as we are cooking; right? So let’s start at the beginning:

Make some Hard-Boiled Eggs. Easy enough. Make an extra one to snack on.
Making the Fried Chicken Skin; the “Gribenes”(the Yiddish word for fried chicken skin). The fried chicken skin is just what we need to make our chopped liver. You have to use chicken fat to cook your chicken liver. There is no other alternative. Could you use various oils or kinds of butter that are available? You could, but tradition and history tell us that won’t give you the same flavors. The best way to start our recipe is to make the fried chicken skin. Don’t worry! Chicken skin is available to buy. Check here…this is where I purchased mine. Slow cooking the chicken skin will render all the chicken fat we need to sauté the chicken liver. Snackability rating: HIGH! Testing whether the chicken skin is cooked completely. Lots of snacking. Strain the chicken fat from the rendered chicken skin to sauté the livers. Add the divided portion of chopped onions to the frying chicken skins before the chicken skins finish cooking. You will know when the chicken skins and onions are done (the bits of skin and onions are brown and crispy!) You of course have been snacking to make sure they are done. Good job!
Sauté the remaining Onions that go into the chopped liver; Use the fat strained from the fried chicken skins to saute the onions. It’s a slow process of cooking over low-medium heat. But we do not want to burn the onions; just brown them. Strain the onions, keeping the rendered fat. You are all set to sauté the chicken livers.
Sauté the Chicken Livers; Use the chicken fat from cooking the onions to sauté the livers; add a couple more tablespoons if needed. Make sure you flip the livers over every now and then to ensure a consistent cook. It is all right to cook them so that there is a little pink on the inside. Overcooking your chicken livers will make them dry and tough.
Chop the Chicken Livers; There are a lot of ways to chop the chicken livers. My Mom used a hand grinder. Times have improved and there are electric grinders. You can manually chop everything if you are so inclined. However, I took the easy way of using a food processor. Know that we are not making a pasty pâté. Pulse the processor a minimal amount. We want to give the impression you used a thick grinding attachment. Easy! Time to snack! Mix the chopped liver with the sauteed onions. Salt and pepper to taste. Some people use garlic powder and onion powder. It’s not traditional, but who the heck cares…It’s your version! Mix in some fried chicken skin. Did you snack and make sure the texture and seasoning are good? Woohoo! We are done!
Time to Garnish! Use some of the fried chicken skin and some of the chopped hard-boiled eggs to garnish. Add some chopped parsley and you are done!

Have I convinced you yet? I am hoping you at least give the recipe a try. Go a little crazy…Spread some on bread or crackers. In Jewish cuisine, it’s traditionally served on holidays like Passover. Why wait for a Holiday? Make the recipe to be served at your next football party! Beer and Chopped Chicken Liver…What could be better? Ok, maybe wings, but try making some Chopped Chicken Liver! You will love it!

Check here to try my Matzo Ball Chicken Soup if you are looking for another Traditional Holiday recipe.

Please leave your comments below and as always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!

You Need a Bit of Chopped Chicken Liver in Your Life

Recipe by David Frank – Spending Time In My Kitchen

0.0 from 0 votes

Servings – Approximately 1 quart

servings

Cook and Prep time – Hard Boiled Eggs

minutes

Cooking time – including hard boiled eggs

minutes

Ingredients

Chopped Chicken Liver
1 lb Chicken livers, trimmed
1/2 Cup Chicken Fat (Schmaltz)
1 Lg Yellow onion, finely minced (divide between chopped chicken liver and gribenes)
3 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled and chopped
2 tbl Finely minced parsley
Salt and pepper
Optional: chicken bouillon powder – if needed for additional seasoning
Gribenes
12 Oz Chicken skin
1/2 Cup Chopped onion – use from the divided sautéed onion above
Garnish and Plating
1/4 Cup Gribenes, optional (Fried onion and crisp fried chicken skin)
Chopped hard-boiled egg
Chopped parsley
Matzo or other crackers to serve

Directions

Gribenes
Chop about 4 oz of chicken skin into 1/2-inch pieces. First I chopped them into strips and then into small pieces. No need to be perfect. Just rough chop the chicken skins and they will cook great!
Add 4 oz of Chopped Chicken Skin to your 14-inch skillet and cook on the stove over medium-low heat. You want to cook slowly so that the fat on the chicken skins is rendered completely. (While the chicken skin is still cooking, drain the amount of chicken fat that is needed to saute the onions in step 3)
When the chicken skins start to brown add some raw chopped onion to the pan. Continue to sauté the chicken skin and onions until they become crispy. Approximately 15 minutes. Add pepper and salt to your taste while the chicken skin is hot.
Pull the fried chicken skin and sautéed onion off the heat when crispy. Set aside.
Cooking the Chicken Livers and Onions
Add 1/4 cup of schmaltz to a large 14-inch skillet. Add the minced onion and season with salt.
Cook over medium-low heat to brown the onions slowly. This should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Once the onions are browned, pull them out of the pan and set them aside in a bowl. Do not overbrown the onions. (Onions below have been on the heat for 10 minutes. Still need another 10 minutes to completely brown.)
Add an additional 2 tbl of schmaltz to your pan and cook the trimmed chicken livers over medium-low heat. Cook for approximately 15 minutes. Make sure you flip the livers to have a consistent cook. Livers should have just a small amount of pink in the middle. They should feel firm to the touch with a slightly springy texture.
Add onion and chicken livers to the food processor and pulse until you get a rough textured mixture. (It should only take a couple of pulses.) Place the mixture in a large bowl when complete.
Add egg and parsley to the processed chicken liver-onion mixture. Hand mix to combine. Place plastic wrap over the chopped chicken liver and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Hard Boiled Eggs
Gently place eggs in a pot of boiling water. Lower the heat to a low simmer. Cook for 13 minutes
After eggs are cooked, gently place the eggs into an ice bath for 5 minutes.
Eggs should be cool enough to work with. Gently start crackin’!
Use a box grater if you have one. Just rough chop your eggs if you don’t.
Place hard-boiled eggs with the parsley in a bowl and set aside. Divide a small amount for garnish.
Let’s Garnish and Finish the Dish!
Add some chopped egg and crispy bits of the fried chicken liver to top off your plate.

Notes

When making the Gribenes, make as much as you want. You will probably find that you will use as much as you cook. You know how people are around “bacon”, Well, it’s the same with the Gribenes!
If you can’t find chicken fat online, make your own. When making the gribenes, strain the chicken fat that you make when rendering the chicken fat. Drain the fat before you add the onion.