What Am I, Chopped Liver?!
I never quite understood that saying. Said with the correct Yiddish inflection, it means something like, “Why don’t you think I’m worthy of more attention?” on the assumption that chopped liver would get less attention than other items on the table. But I love chopped liver! In fact, I’ve always liked liver. When I was a baby, my mother tells me, she would go to the meat counter at the small Gristedes that was around the corner from our apartment building, and buy one fresh chicken liver at a time, which she would feed to me with the tiniest portion of instant mashed potatoes and my grandmother’s homemade applesauce. But I know not everyone likes liver, so I hope you will indulge me this post.
Although I love chopped liver, I rarely make it myself. It’s a special treat I like to get when we find ourselves at a deli. But a few days ago, when I was out on the endeavor that is food shopping these days, in the meat case at Mazzeo’s Meat & Seafood, I saw containers of beautiful, fresh chicken livers that had clearly not been frozen. (And I checked with Mike Mazzeo, they had not been.)
I surveyed a range of recipes from various cookbooks, but in the end, I didn’t follow any of them. I did see that more than one recipe used almost the same weight in onions as liver, so I decided to try that. I was lucky that I had schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) in the freezer, but you can certainly use olive or canola oil. I also was able to use chicken broth I had just made that was in the fridge, but store-bought would work, or even water in a pinch. And I had my favorite eggs, from a local farmer.
When I tasted the result, I hurried to write down exactly what I had done because it was so good! And so, as long as it lasts, we are happily enjoying homemade chopped liver on Tam Tams as a snack during Passover.
Chopped Liver
2-3 Tablespoons schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) or olive or canola oil
1 large yellow onion, about ½ pound, chopped
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ pound chicken livers
Generous pinch fresh ground black pepper
¼ cup chicken broth or water
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
Melt the schmaltz in a medium or large sauté pan over medium-high heat (or heat oil until shimmering). Add onions, sprinkle with salt and sauté until softened and beginning to brown. Place the livers with one side down into the pan. You can try to clear the onions out of the way for each piece of liver, but it’s not terribly important – some of the liver can be on top of pieces of onion. Sprinkle with the pepper, and cook on one side without moving 2-3 minutes. Turn the livers and cook other side for 2 minutes more. Check for doneness by cutting thickest one in half. If it doesn’t look fully cooked, continue to cook for another 2 minutes and check again. Pour the chicken broth into the pan, and use a spoon to scrape up any browned bits that have stuck to the pan. Let the liquid reduce until it’s almost gone — maybe about a tablespoon remaining, but keep an eye on it, because if it reduces too much, pieces will begin to stick again. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Place liver mixture and eggs in food processor and pulse to desired consistency. Some people like more texture (as do I), while others prefer a fully puréed product, which will require more time in the food processor. A mini food processor works fine, but you will need to do this in two batches and then combine in a bowl. Cool, covered, in the refrigerator, and once it has cooled taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your liking.