Chopped liver question...

[lauren75]

Its my first seder that I am handling and I am a litte nervous...do you think its worth the extra effort to make chopped liver from scratch? Or can you suggest a prepared variety that I can "doctor" with hard boiled eggs and onion.

[markk]

Its my first seder that I am handling and I am a litte nervous...do you think its worth the extra effort to make chopped liver from scratch?  Or can you suggest a prepared variety that I can "doctor" with hard boiled eggs and onion.

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If you're going to go to all the trouble of sauteeing onions and hard-boiling eggs, all you have to do is throw some raw chicken livers in with the onions once they're golden, cook till the livers are done, add to a chopping bowl with the egg, and you've got homemade. Why do all that work just to doctor some store bought brand?

If you like some sweetness in it, use a sweet onion variety.

[Alex]

I agree with Mark -- there's no reason not to make homemade, especially if you have a food processor. (I know, I know -- let's not start in on hand-chopped vs. mechanical.) Chopped liver is pretty hard to mess up -- just adjust the salt and freshly ground pepper to your liking, don't make it too smooth, and add a dab of oil in the unlikely event it's too dry. I cook my onions very, very slowly, until all the liquid has evaporated and they've started to caramelize -- this also adds some sweetness and an extra layer of flavor.

[Katie Meadow]

Heartily concur. Unless you have a great deli nearby that makes chopped liver you really like, most prepared stuff is pretty heavy-handed--and overmixed--and it will make you sad.

Caramelize the onions and set aside. Gently sautee the livers, then (yes!) hand-chop them. Mix with the onion, salt and pepper to taste, fold in finely chopped egg. Try holding out some of the yolk; it's just personal, but I think the chopped white adds to the texture but too much yolk just makes it taste eggy. Then do as my dad did: add a splash of brandy! Flamed cognac would work too I imagine but my dad wasn't fussy. Garnish with a dusting of finely minced parsley or chives et voila! Your guests will be on memory lane. I'm there just thinking about it. If your guests were at my long-deceased uncle's house for passover they would be drinking martinis with their chopped liver on matzoh.

[Pam R]

Easy to make, and worth the effort, but if you're going for kosher chopped liver, you can't add them to the pan or sautee them. The liver/s needs to be broiled, not sauteed. If kashrut isn't an issue, ignore this.

[nibor]

I love chopped liver but am often disappointed when I buy it at the deli. If it isn't fresh, boy, do you know it. Yuk! Now that I think of it, I never buy it anymore. It is really easy to make.

[judiu]

Easy to make, and worth the effort, but if you're going for kosher chopped liver, you can't add them to the pan or sautee them.  The liver/s  needs to be broiled, not sauteed. If kashrut isn't an issue, ignore this.

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How so? I know that they could not be sauteed in butter (obviously), but why broiled? Is it a blood thing? (Please, not being snarky, just curious)

[Pam R]

Not snarky at all - I realized last night that I should have included more information.

It is an issue of blood. From Star-K online:

How is the blood removed? With meat, this process, commonly known as kashering meat, is accomplished by soaking the meat in water, salting it, and then rewashing it. With liver, this method of extraction is insufficient. Since liver contains such a large concentration of blood, the technique used for kashering liver is broiling.

And I should also add, that while it's not hard to make on your own, if you find a good source for ready-made, then go for it. We'll be making about 40 lbs. of it on Friday.

[budrichard]

The secret to chopped liver like your Bubbe used to make is schmaltz. I save the skin from chickens that I cut up and when making chopped liver, render the skin and add the resulting schmaltz to the mix. The 'cracklings' left over can be used in a salad or eaten with hot sauce as a bonus.-Dick

Edited April 16, 2008 by budrichard (log)

[Katie Meadow]

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the schmaltz. If you don't want to make cracklings (gribenes) you would typically have the fat you skim off from the stock you've made for your matzoh ball soup and use that. If sauteeing the livers isn't a no-no for you (and I know my family didn't care), then you could sautee the livers in a generous amount of chicken fat. That would add enough to the mix I would think.

But chicken cracklings with hot sauce...yummm....

[budrichard]

After a number of trials I found that it takes a lot of schmaltz to produce chopped liver with suitable mouth feel to rival the best from New York's Deli's. I would make a batch and it would never be just right. As I added more and more schmaltz, I got to a perfect product univerally admired upon tasters.

Save your chicken skin!-Dick

[Pam R]

Slowly brown the onions in the schmaltz.

[jsmeeker]

I made some chopped chicken liver today. I used 1 lb. of livers. I ate some of it, but since it's so "rich", I have plenty leftover. How long can this stuff really keep in my fridge?

[Pam R]

Keeps for a few days. Some people freeze it, but it changes the texture. If you have more than you can eat, freeze some and see how it thaws.