Be sure to have your ANNOTATIONS turned ON in order to see the ingredients and other printed directions.
Classic CHICKEN LIVERS / 19th century French restaurant recipe
Chicken livers are far more delicious than most people realize because they’re rarely given the treatment that they need to really shine in fact the old-world classic French method of cooking chicken livers can hardly even be found in a cookbook these days surprisingly this lost art is not especially difficult and the results are
So good that even people who think they hate liver usually love this the first step here is you get a container with some ice cubes water in it chicken livers are fairly inexpensive effect quite inexpensive so you can be ruthless merciless with with how you trim them
Just find where the the major vein is here and you kind of work your knife and scrape it now you get a piece like this this is too large this this lobe will that cook evenly so we’re going to cut it in half like this and I’m going to put it in the
Bucket of ice water we’ll come back to this later and we repeat the same process if you’ve got large large pieces that come off away from this give them a cut in half fill em in and just repeat it eventually you’ve got a bowl full of nicely cut pieces still very cold with
The ice bath the reason you do this is especially the cut surface of the liver will start to change flavor very quickly left out in the air at room temperature you don’t want that that that’s part of what gives you this bad liver flavor so
You get it into the ice bath as soon as possible after the livers have been cleared with water you weigh them at 250 grams here which is a enough for about 30 milliliters bony-ass rule fresh ground white pepper a little salt and now we begin marinating these in the Kodiak for
A little while give them a stir once in a while after about 10 or 15 minutes begin heating the fat in the pan to cook them in booth qualities non-stick pan I’m using my liquid of choice for this which is duck fat good dollop a little bit more than a
Tablespoon of duck fat you can use ghee you can use olive oil if you want to that fat is really the best if you have it let this get hot and in the meantime we’re going to drain those chicken livers after draining I’m going to sieve
Put them on paper towels or cloth press down a little bit you want to try to get as much of that moisture out of them as you can because they won’t Brown properly if they’re too wet they’re going to be a little bit wet because it’s just the nature of liver you don’t
Want to dripping with okay not only will it cause a lot of splattering but they just won’t get that nice texture on the outside that they will if you can dry them off some okay let’s get to the pan top now if you have a digital infrared thermometer we’re looking for about 300
Degrees otherwise you can just wait until the duck fat if you’re using duck fat stop spitting because that means that all the waters evaporated it’s around 300 degrees okay now I get 250 grams chicken livers which is too much to do at one time so I’m going to put about half of
Them and do them in two batches they want to overwhelm the pan at a lower the temperature put the livers will speeding more than they try if you don’t want you’re not going to throw them around too much here forty seconds here you want to overcook them
And in most applications that I use and forth name it being cooked the second time letter is kind of a pre cook and then in a pasta or something they’re going to get warm and cooked a little bit more so I really want to aim for the rare side now
That’s about yet spirit firm still it’s fine and transfer them off to a bowl and repeat repeat the same process with the rest of them the same fat it’s you can you can use the same fast two times now once they drink and let them cool down
You’ll find that there’s quite a bit of liquid here in the bottom it’s going to run off of them you can use this in a pasta dish especially Puttanesca really really good thing to add to Puttanesca I like using these livers with it as well
But you can just place these I hate the way they are to it really delicious you if you want to know more about my adventures as a chef around the world and have some great laughs along the way be sure to check out the video tour of
My book 40 years in one night it’s up on YouTube right now click the link if you like my videos look for my cookbook now available through Amazon Barnes & Noble and other internet bookseller sites also look for my cocktail book cocktails of the South Pacific and Beyond advanced
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43 Comments
For some reason whenever i put oil in my pan and swirl it around it covers the entire surface but then most of the oil pools in this certain area of the pan no matter how hard i try to spread it evenly over the entire pan, is this normal? Also what was your heat on in your scale on the stove? I heated my pan on a really high heat like 8 which seemed like a good number because you said 300 degrees (now im thinking you mean farenheit, which im not used to lol), and the livers all burned.
ive always soaked them in salt water and/or milk. Same with beef liver. Then bread them fry them in bacon grease. I love them. Ive always thought anything you can eat for dinner and use as fishing bait was a great deal. I love all kinds of guts from animals including brain. The only thing i have not eaten is kidneys. Ive been called all kinds of names for what I eat, including a Neanderthal
does the flavor of the livers become a lot more livery after awhile in the fridge? because i made this recipe (granted i was using olive oil) and the livers had a very livery flavor especially after sitting in the fridge and i reheated them when tossing with the pasta for the puttanesca. now i have bacon fat so im willing to give this another go…
So few hits on this video.Chumps! I love chicken livers and here in Spain they are cheap and always very fresh (because they are a popular item for home cooks). Some great pointers here. ¡Gracias!
yummm though!!!!!
I am just glad that they have not climbed in popularity ;). Chicken livers are one of the cheapest proteins you can buy and when prepared properly they are melt in your mouth delicious! Did I mention that they also have all 9 essential amino acids, and a ton of vitamins? The only downside is that they are high in cholesterol…
sorry but my english is not that good as yours and i didnt understood which type of fat are you use there?
also, proud that in Russia we have such good chefs
Make them for dinner your way (oo, didnt have duck fat), they were swesome. TY.
*Made
Stupid question. Can you purchase duck fat at a butcher's shop? You said this would go great with puttanesca. What about the French way? Is there a French side you could have this with?
Interesting. I love fried livers as well as livers in chicken bog / perlow.
Best chicken liver is with chopped onion and carrot.
How refreshing to see chicken livers that don't have 3 or 4 coats of breading, and have not had the hell fried out of them!
Would this be a good method to prepare liver for pate? I really love Jewish style chopped liver, but every time I make it, it has that slightly bitter taste that isn't so great.
when i buy my liver i buy them really fresh how do you remove all the blood off of it?
which cognac do you recommend?
Do you have an alternative to the cognac? Any kind of alcohol, even though it's cooked, is a migraine trigger for me.
When I eat chicken liver it's so bitter. I feel like I'm gonna barf at any second. The type of chicken liver that I eat is that they put it in the stew and that's it, is that a proper way?. Is cooking it like this will create a different taste of how I used to eat? .
You had me by having a chicken liver recipe, got me thrilled by adding Cognac, and then made my day by using Duck Fat. There is 1.5 lb Duck Fat in my fridge. My mother always did a dual-cook of chicken livers. I cook with Duck Fat because I can share things I cook with my cat.
He's not messing around at 4:10. Don't eat them at this stage. I ended up nearly in the hospital with campylobacteriosis. Which you don't want ever.
Tried it and the livers turned out better than any I have ever cooked, granted that my cooking is usually pretty bad, but still, nice simple recipe. Good stuff ,thanks for the video!
Poor man's foie gras lol tasty
Chicken livers are delicious. I usually cook them with mushrooms, tomato and white wine and a bit of oregano. I also like them with potatoes or capsicum like a casserole.
However, you can serve them with mashed potatoes, or steamed rice or pasta. Very tasty economical dish. And very healthy. Lots of iron in liver.
No cognac. Can I use cooking wine?
The discarded pieces not good?
why did you stop uploading bro?
Really appreciate your chicken liver recipe. Many videos on YouTube have tons of salt or spices that changes the subject so much that it's not really chicken liver to me anymore. All the best from the tiny islands of Palau!
ANNOTATIONS
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INGREDIENTS
250g (8.8 oz) Chicken Livers
Ice Water
30ml (1 oz) Cognac
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
15g (0.5 oz) Duck Fat
or bacon fat, or olive oil as a last resort
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My early experiences with chicken liver were Rumaki – a favorite of Tiki restaurants in which chicken liver was wrapped in bacon, but it was more like a strategy to disguise the unpleasant taste of the liver. It wasn't until Albert, the Saucier in my first French restaurant (see page 57 of my book "40 Years in One Night") that I discovered just how delicious chicken liver could actually be. We would receive
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Thanks for watching !
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Divide the weight of the liver by 10 for the amount of cognac, and then add just a bit more. Thus, 250g / 10 = 25ml + a bit = 30ml (1 oz) cognac.
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300°F = 150°C MINIMUM
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It is also important to get the freshest livers you can for the optimum taste. Liver deteriorates very quickly because it is filled with very active enzymes that will digest anything, including the liver itself, and the digestion waste products don't taste very nice. The fresher, the better!
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A cast iron pan is at least as good, if not BETTER. I used this one because the white surface provides better contrast for the video.
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In a restaurant they would be fried very quickly in a SCORCHING hot pan just to brown the outer surface before plating up.
What you have at this point are STABILIZED chicken livers – the enzymes have been rendered inactive so they can be store in a refrigerator safely for up to two days and finished off at a moment's notice.
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CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO TOUR OF THIS BOOK
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IMPORTANT: I am not cooking these quite enough to be eaten directly – these are for use as a component in another recipe coming soon. If you are going to eat them directly, then cook them a bit darker.
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CLICK HERE for more information about this book and how to get it.
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whole chickens from delivery that still had the livers, hearts and gizzards. Since the livers were not needed for anything on the menu, the cooks were free to use them as staff food. When fresh and properly prepared, they're completely different from what you've probably ever tasted. This is the classic method from 19th Century France, but nearly forgotten these days.
I love chicken liver!
The entire point of my researching this is to AVOID FRYING MESS.
When cleaning the livers, be sure to remove any hint of blue or green completely. That's the gall bladder, and it has the most bitter flavor you'll ever have. One drop of its bile can ruin a whole pint of livers.
My mouth is watering….yuuuum….
French Coney-Yack. Love it!
Meanwhile in India, anything that's not well done: raw
But if you dry the livers with the kitchen towel to absorb the water in this way, this will take the flavors from the livers as well. Lightly absorb the water is the better way.
The best livers i got,when i cooked them in a dry-cooker fry pan.Super good.
I just done this recipe and really enjoyed it thank you , mine was a little pink in the middle , is that all ok???
Made this yesterday.
Made it plenty of times before but yesterday I had the inspiration to add balsamic vinegar and green onions.
Worked very well together.
He added some liquid before he peppered them but never bothered to explain what it was?
Am I missing something?
It kinda pissed me off LOL
I can't find any coney-ack is that a Finnish thing? Not for nothin' Chef but I think the fat to saute chicken livers is schmaltz! Love your work babe.
What sides would go well with this?
Thank you
Dear Chef, I’ve followed you for years, back when you were cooking in Russia. I’ve tried to locate your recipe for your version of McDonald’s chicken McNuggets, by cannot locate it? I really wish I had your older video. I’m sorry, this doesn’t have anything to do with chicken livers, but I’m going to try your recipe here. Thank you, Chef. -Cooking in Lancaster, Pennsylvania