Martinis and matzah balls
A recipe for schmaltzy chicken livers, plus pre-order my upcoming cookbook
This year my birthday fell on a Friday night. Shabbat dinner. 30! I decided to turn the table in my dining room length-ways, add on a couple of extra trestles and invite 40 friends over to celebrate with a liquid heavy menu. Martinis and chicken soup.
Martinis first - I like them extra dirty - to sip while snacking on pickles (brine paired with brine). A cured self-serve sausage featured at the martini bar too. Then we sat for chicken soup and matzah balls (and some other dishes). For me this is the ideal combination. I love a savoury moment and I love a dinner event planned around a central hero dish.
Since it was a Shabbat, a feast was in order. The table was covered in plates of marinated vegetables, charred eggplant and tahini, rare beef carpaccio with zhoug and pickled shallots, matbucha and chicken livers that my mum made. I served Moroccan Friday night fish (spicy, tomatoey barramundi) out of an extremely large pot. All of this was eaten with torn chunks of soft, perfectly braided challah (made by my friend, Maaryasha of Zelda bakery).
Chicken soup was slurped, too many martinis were sipped, and I spent the rest of the weekend mostly on the couch.
It seems that the 5 kilos of chicken livers that my mum threw together in the last hour made an impression on many of my friends. In the days after my birthday I got a few texts that read something like, ‘have you recovered ok? Still thinking about those livers. Is the recipe in your book?’
Yes. The recipe is in my upcoming cookbook. So is most of the menu that I cooked for my birthday dinner. You can purchase it at this link!
I thought I would take this moment to send you the recipe for those chicken livers, from my position still curled up on the couch.
Chicken livers and schmaltz onions on toast
In their raw state they may seem intimidating. But fried with schmaltzy onions and seasoned with cumin and baharat, they are a dream. Finishing with lemon juice lifts the livers, balancing their rich taste. Pile them on a piece of grilled bread and serve with more lemon and parsley. Or, if you can get your hands on a loaf of challah, that is even better. A recipe for that will be in my upcoming cookbook too. Will be talking a lot about my cookbook in the coming months, so get ready.
Serves 4 as a starter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
500g chicken livers, washed and trimmed of connective tissue
1 teaspoon flaky salt, plus extra to season
2 tablespoons brandy or whisky
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon baharat
1 teaspoon cumin
4 pieces of bread, challah, bagel or sesame focaccia flatbread
Tahini to serve (optional)
a squeeze of lemon juice to serve
Flat-leaf parsley sprigs to serve
Schmaltz and crispy chicken skin
250g chicken skin (and fat too, if you can find it) (you can also buy schmaltz already rendered at kosher delis)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Schmaltz onions
530g onions, sliced in half, then finely sliced into half moons
1 teaspoon flaky salt
To make the schmaltz and crispy chicken skin
Gently fry the chicken skin with 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a very low heat. Frying the chicken skin releases its fat, and as the fat slowly renders, the skin will crisp up until it is eventually crunchy. The rendered fat is called schmaltz.
Once there is quite a bit of schmaltz pooling in the pan - this should take about 20 minutes - strain the oil into a bowl and set aside. Put the chicken skin back in the frying pan with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and fry it over a medium heat until every piece is crispy. Put the crispy skin in a bowl, season with flaky salt and set aside.
To make the schmaltz onions
Put the frying pan over a low-medium heat and pour in 120ml of the schmaltz. Add the onions, half a teaspoon of the flaky salt and stir. When the onions have started softening and have taken on a caramel colour after about 10 minutes, season with another half a teaspoon of salt and continue to sauté. Cook the onions, stirring frequently, for about 35 minutes all up, or until they are lovely and brown and parts of the onion have begun to stick to the pan. When they are done, put the onions in a bowl and set aside.
To cook the livers and serve
Put the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and half of the chicken livers over a medium-high heat, making sure not to crowd the pan. Season with half a teaspoon of the flaky salt. Fry the livers for about 8 minutes, stirring every so often, until they are just cooked and nicely browned all over. Put the cooked livers in a bowl and set aside. Fry the remaining livers, season with the remaining half a teaspoon of salt, then set aside with the first batch.
Deglaze the pan with the brandy or whisky over a medium-high heat. Put the onions and livers back in the pan, add the paprika, baharat and cumin and stir for a few minutes so the flavours melt together and everything heats through. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Grill the bread and put each slice on its own plate. Spread the toast with tahini, if using, then layer a few pieces of liver and lots of onion over each slice, topping with a small squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of crispy chicken skin. Put a couple of sprigs of parsley at the side of the plate for people to layer on the toast themselves if they want some added freshness.
Note: when purchasing the livers, ask your butcher if they have any chicken offcuts of skin and fat in the cool room that they can sell you as well. When the chicken skin and fat is rendered it should make 135ml schmaltz. You can save the rest to use for matzah balls or use it to roast potatoes.