'Tis Hunting Time—A smallish blog

**Smithy** · Thursday at 07:20 PM

Remind me please about the fried and then pressure cooked chicken gizzards. I have a couple quarts of giblets that friends gave me from their farmer's market chickens. The first batch I cooked (stir fried) had a strange taste and I ended up giving most of them to the dog. Since then I've read that the gizzards have to be cleaned first...which I didn't do.

So, please describe your procedure again?

(And yes to carby not crabby ... but my autocorrect does plenty of strange things!)

**Shelby** · Thursday at 07:37 PM

5 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Remind me please about the fried and then pressure cooked chicken gizzards. I have a couple quarts of giblets that friends gave me from their farmer's market chickens. The first batch I cooked (stir fried) had a strange taste and I ended up giving most of them to the dog. Since then I've read that the gizzards have to be cleaned first...which I didn't do.

So, please describe your procedure again?

(And yes to carby not crabby ... but my autocorrect does plenty of strange things!)

Yeah they do need to be cleaned well. The ones I buy are either from the grocery store or the Asian Market--the Asian Market ones are always nicely cleaned. I rinse them all in cold water and comb through them to make sure, though. I'll refer again to my hero Hank Shaw--he has a tutorial on cleaning gizzards here . I always soak mine in buttermilk for a while before frying, too. I believe it helps tenderize them a bit. I dump a bunch of flour in a gallon ziplock and add a copious amount of Lawry's salt and black pepper. Like really dump a lot more than you think. Mix that all together well. I don't dump all the gizzards in at once because it becomes a gummy mess. Just dredge a few at a time. I use a cast iron pan. Fill with enough veg. oil so that it can fry but not a ton. I probably do 1 1/2 to 2 inches? Then heat up the oil and fry turning over once to do both sides. You don't have to worry if they're done enough--just get a nice crisp like fried chicken. Once fried, drain on a paper towel--I put paper towels on a big square pan. After frying they can wait a while until you're ready to pressure cook them if you wish. When ready, I fill the instant pot with a cup of water and place the gizzards on a stand--I'll take a picture tomorrow. I might actually use two IP's just so they aren't so packed full. Pressure cook for 40 mins quick release. These won't be crunchy but they will be tender and delicious. KFC back in the day used to make these and they were wonderful.

KennethT · Thursday at 08:12 PM

33 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Yeah they do need to be cleaned well. The ones I buy are either from the grocery store or the Asian Market--the Asian Market ones are always nicely cleaned. I rinse them all in cold water and comb through them to make sure, though. I'll refer again to my hero Hank Shaw--he has a tutorial on cleaning gizzards here . I always soak mine in buttermilk for a while before frying, too. I believe it helps tenderize them a bit. I dump a bunch of flour in a gallon ziplock and add a copious amount of Lawry's salt and black pepper. Like really dump a lot more than you think. Mix that all together well. I don't dump all the gizzards in at once because it becomes a gummy mess. Just dredge a few at a time. I use a cast iron pan. Fill with enough veg. oil so that it can fry but not a ton. I probably do 1 1/2 to 2 inches? Then heat up the oil and fry turning over once to do both sides. You don't have to worry if they're done enough--just get a nice crisp like fried chicken. Once fried, drain on a paper towel--I put paper towels on a big square pan. After frying they can wait a while until you're ready to pressure cook them if you wish. When ready, I fill the instant pot with a cup of water and place the gizzards on a stand--I'll take a picture tomorrow. I might actually use two IP's just so they aren't so packed full. Pressure cook for 40 mins quick release. These won't be crunchy but they will be tender and delicious. KFC back in the day used to make these and they were wonderful.

Is there any reason why you don't PC first, then dredge and fry? It reminds me of a lot of Indonesian recipes where they're cooking tough pieces of meat - it's first simmered in a spice paste liquid for a few hours, then drained, then fried...

**Shelby** · Thursday at 09:50 PM

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

Is there any reason why you don't PC first, then dredge and fry? It reminds me of a lot of Indonesian recipes where they're cooking tough pieces of meat - it's first simmered in a spice paste liquid for a few hours, then drained, then fried...

The one time I tried it that way all of the breading slid off during frying. Maybe I'm missing something?

KennethT · 2025-12-05T13:24:28Z

15 hours ago, Shelby said:

The one time I tried it that way all of the breading slid off during frying. Maybe I'm missing something?

That's true - my brain temporarily had a nap and I forgot that you used a breading. You'd have to thoroughly cool and dry them before breading otherwise it will not stick...

SLB · 2025-12-05T13:27:43Z

I would've guess that PCing after frying would lead to the breading sliding off! It's startling that it doesn't.

[FWIW -- I've never used and IP, I use an old timey pressure cooker, I know they must be different because the bean cooking times are so very different]

**Shelby** · 2025-12-05T14:43:10Z

Good morning! It's a frosty, foggy morning over here. The guys are of course out doing their thing. They saw lots of deer yesterday but nothing tripped their trigger (haha).

These are nice bucks

And oh man was the moon bright last night. I would suspect that a lot of feeding went on overnight because it was almost like a bright sunny day lol. Super moon before it got dark last night

And early this morning

So...hopefully a nice dry doe will be gotten today. I'd like to have venison steaks for dinner tomorrow. But, if not, I have some nice choice beef steaks I'll sous vide.

I got my Misfits boxes yesterday, thank you FedEx for not screwing up lol sigh. So we have a decent array of vegetables for a while. Anyway that took a bit to get everything put away and before I knew it it was time to put out some kind of snacky stuff.

Not fancy but enough to take the edge off.

Then I got busy on the ducks. I put paper towels over them to get them as dry as possible and then rubbed them with a ton of butter. I forgot to mention that we brined them before we froze them. After the butter I sprinkled with Lawry's salt and fresh black pepper. Then I stuffed them with a lemon wedge, and sprigs of thyme, rosemary and sage. After that they lounged on the counter for a while.

Then I sorted through the tomatoes and got out the ones that needed to be used and peeled them. Next I did chopped onion, garlic and celery in butter, added the tomatoes and seasoning and let that simmer for a while. Right before serving I tore up a piece of toasted sourdough bread and added that. No picture...stewed tomatoes are boring lol. Next I fried a few strips of bacon, removed those and added trimmed up Brussels sprouts to the pan along with more onions and garlic and got those nice and roasted. Seasoned with yep, more Lawry's and black pepper, added a few glugs of chicken broth, put the lid on and let them get nice and tender. Just before serving I added shredded cheddar and the crumbled up bacon.

I started the steam boys on 450 F about an hour ahead of time to get them nice and warmed up. Pintail and teal were done in about 15 mins.

Mallards I did for 25--they were in the slower oven.

Our hunter friend said they were just like an excellent steak so I think he liked them

Today will be a busier day for me--sooooooooooooooooo much frying to do. I've already prepped my cast iron so it's all ready to go at least. I'm also thinking of making an apple galette out of the last of the apple pie filling I made from the apples on our tree. I was toying with making a lemon posset because I have a ton of lemons but I'm not sure I have room in the fridge for 3 dessert cups sigh lol. Anyway, we'll see what I get up to today.

For right now I'm going to enjoy my hot cup of coffee that is mostly sugar and cream and bask in the quietness of the house.

**Shelby** · 2025-12-05T15:10:20Z

Sent to me just now:

I think this gal is going to get in the blind with them

TicTac · 2025-12-05T17:35:59Z

On 12/4/2025 at 11:18 AM, Shelby said:

She says thank you 😊 She's 6. I can't believe she's already 6. We got her in Jan of 2020 right before the pandemic.

LOL yeah.....same. She got in the duck pond and it's now a dirty pink.

I love balsamic vinegar with duck.

A gastrique with balsamic, rosemary and cherry jam goes awesome w Duck!

patti · 2025-12-05T20:48:17Z

6 hours ago, Shelby said:

I'm also thinking of making an apple galette out of the last of the apple pie filling I made from the apples on our tree. I was toying with making a lemon posset because I have a ton of lemons but I'm not sure I have room in the fridge for 3 dessert cups sigh lol. Anyway, we'll see what I get up to today.

An apple galette sounds so good! It’s chilly and dreary here and wouldn’t that just warm things up. I didn’t know what a lemon posset was, but now that I do, yum!

I would be happy with some butter and whatever homemade bread you have. Oh, and could you pass the cashews?

I appreciate all the pictures. You are one excellent hostess!

**Shelby** · 2025-12-05T23:26:35Z

2 hours ago, patti said:

An apple galette sounds so good! It’s chilly and dreary here and wouldn’t that just warm things up. I didn’t know what a lemon posset was, but now that I do, yum!

I would be happy with some butter and whatever homemade bread you have. Oh, and could you pass the cashews?

I appreciate all the pictures. You are one excellent hostess!

Thanks SO much for the encouragement--I'm not feeling like such a great hostess right now lol. I've decided to do the apple galette tomorrow. I need my steam boys for other things tonight. Besides...it will be a good finale (that's what I'm telling myself lol.

**Shelby** · 2025-12-05T23:28:02Z

I'm never frying anything ever again.

Until a few days from now when I'll want wings.

TWO hours of frying. I need a fainting couch.

**Shelby** · 2025-12-05T23:57:08Z

Sigh. Nothing tonight. They are eating overnight which I don't blame them. It's not the end of the world--there's still another week after our friend goes home...but it's just so much more fun and easier when he's here. There's still tomorrow and he doesn't leave until later on Sunday.

I think it was @Norm Matthews that said somewhere around here that there's nothing like a Kansas sunset.

MaryIsobel · 2025-12-06T02:19:23Z

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

Sigh. Nothing tonight. They are eating overnight which I don't blame them. It's not the end of the world--there's still another week after our friend goes home...but it's just so much more fun and easier when he's here. There's still tomorrow and he doesn't leave until later on Sunday.

I think it was @Norm Matthews that said somewhere around here that there's nothing like a Kansas sunset.

We're far from Kansas - Pacific Northwest in fact but our sunsets were very similar. Looks like a body of water but it's not, just clouds on the horizon just after sunset.

**Shelby** · 2025-12-06T15:15:22Z

Happy Saturday! It's another frosty kinda foggy morning. I'm trying to decide if I want any of my mostly cream and sugar coffee.....it seems like a monumental decision for some reason 🤣 I think I really just want something warm for my hands to hold. So I should just do a mug of hot water lol.

I knew yesterday was going to be a long one and it was lol. I started frying a little after three and got done a few minutes before 5. I had 4 trays of chicken gizzards which I knew I wasn't going to do all 4 because that would be too much. Then I had a long panic because I hadn't thought far enough ahead about how I was going to fit all of these guts into pressure cookers. I have a big IP which is what I had initially thought I'd use for the chicken gizzards and then I'd use a normal size IP for the duck/goose gizzards BUT it hit me that I don't have a large sized rack of any kind for the big IP. I need to rectify that but there was no time to do it yesterday. So, I finally decided to do the goose/duck gizzards right away and then keep them warm in a steam boy. Thankfully that worked! PHEW.

Like @Smithyand I were talking about yesterday, you do need to clean gizzards very well. Store bought ones should be pretty clean already but I go through them all just in case. More often than not I run across this:

You don't want that yellowish piece of tough whatever-it-is on there. It peels off easily though.

Chicken gizzards

Taking a swim in buttermilk

Goose/duck gizzards

In their buttermilk pool

Frying

Chicken gizzards fried and ready to pressure cook for 40 mins

Inside the IP with a cup of water below

I split the chicken gizzards between two regular sized IPs. I used this tray thingy for the other batch--I didn't use the middle tray.

All done!

Goose/duck gizzards all done and keeping warm

Chipped beef cheese ball, leftover deviled eggs and meats and cheeses for appetizers

Once the guts were all merrily pressure cooking I started on scalloped potatoes. I used my mandolin and thinly sliced potatoes (I listened to @rotutsand left the skins on ). Then I buttered the hell out of a cast iron and put a layer of potatoes down, sprinkled with Lawry's and black pepper and then sprinkled with sharp cheddar. Repeat until the pan is full. Pour heavy cream in until you can see it surrounding the potatoes. Cover and bring to a slight simmer. You want to watch because it's easy to burn the bottom of the potatoes. Once the potatoes are tender (poke a knife in to test), remove the lid and let the rest of the cream cook into the potatoes. They're great just like that or you can sprinkle with a bit more cheese and pop them under the broiler:

Salad to go with

My small plate lol--I was almost too tired to eat

Lots of leftovers for today to snack on.

No luck this morning but I got sent some good pictures of some nice boys

I've gotta clean my stove. You should see it 😮

**Smithy** · 2025-12-06T15:33:12Z

Wow! That is so much work and the results all look marvelous! A lot of love goes into your cookery.

I can imagine your stove looking a right mess. What about that cast iron pan? You mentioned buttering the hell out of it, but I can still imagine it being crusted up with stray bits of cooked-on cream, butter, potatoes, whatever. Mine would.

Thanks for the tutorial on the gizzards. I think I'll try that, on a much smaller scale since it's just me. And thanks especially for the photo of the revolting stuff you DON'T want in your cooked gizzards. Ewww. Maybe someone with more knowledge of fowl biology ( @blue_dolphin? @YvetteMT? Someone else?) can explain what that yellow stuff is.

Did the guys explain why those bucks weren't considered worthy targets? You mentioned looking for a dry doe before. Is that what they're holding out for?

KennethT · 2025-12-06T15:50:17Z

@Shelby I just had a thought - if (next time) there's not enough PCs, you could use a SteamBoy on Supersteam at 250F which would pretty much completely recreate the environment in a pressure cooker at full pressure....

**Shelby** · 2025-12-06T15:51:31Z

13 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Wow! That is so much work and the results all look marvelous! A lot of love goes into your cookery.

I can imagine your stove looking a right mess. What about that cast iron pan? You mentioned buttering the hell out of it, but I can still imagine it being crusted up with stray bits of cooked-on cream, butter, potatoes, whatever. Mine would.

Thanks for the tutorial on the gizzards. I think I'll try that, on a much smaller scale since it's just me. And thanks especially for the photo of the revolting stuff you DON'T want in your cooked gizzards. Ewww. Maybe someone with more knowledge of fowl biology ( @blue_dolphin? @YvetteMT? Someone else?) can explain what that yellow stuff is.

Did the guys explain why those bucks weren't considered worthy targets? You mentioned looking for a dry doe before. Is that what they're holding out for?

It's like you're in my kitchen 🤣. The cast iron is a complete mess. It's soaking as we speak. I HATE cleaning it, but clean it I shall.

They've gotten bigger ones and they try to always get bigger than before. Plus, yeah, I really want a nice dry doe. Bucks are SO tough. It's been years since I've had some really good steaks and roasts because I turn the tough guys all into hamburger.

gfweb · 2025-12-06T15:59:54Z

7 minutes ago, Shelby said:

It's like you're in my kitchen 🤣. The cast iron is a complete mess. It's soaking as we speak. I HATE cleaning it, but clean it I shall.

They've gotten bigger ones and they try to always get bigger than before. Plus, yeah, I really want a nice dry doe. Bucks are SO tough. It's been years since I've had some really good steaks and roasts because I turn the tough guys all into hamburger.

Looks fab!

You could cook the potatoes in a baking dish and have easier clean--up.

blue_dolphin · 2025-12-06T16:01:15Z

29 minutes ago, Smithy said:

And thanks especially for the photo of the revolting stuff you DON'T want in your cooked gizzards. Ewww. Maybe someone with more knowledge of fowl biology ( @blue_dolphin? @YvetteMT? Someone else?) can explain what that yellow stuff is.

I’m not particularly knowledgeable but I’m a pretty good looker-upper and the yellow stuff is a protective membrane made of koilin that lines the inside of the gizzard to protect the muscle from acidic stomach secretions and any grit, stones or other sharp material. The muscular gizzard contracts to sort of grind up whatever’s passed through the stomach. It can pass the material back to the stomach for more enzymatic digestion or on to the intestine.
Apparently people make a tea from that gizzard lining and use it to treat digestive ailments. This Amazon listing for them (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) includes what looks like a Chinese name for them so maybe @liuzhou is familiar with that usage.

Edited 1 hour ago by blue_dolphin
Missing word (log)

**Shelby** · 2025-12-06T16:02:17Z

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

Looks fab!

You could cook the potatoes in a baking dish and have easier clean--up.

You're very right. I think deep down I enjoy making things harder on myself 🙃

liuzhou · 2025-12-06T16:22:37Z

21 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Apparently people make a tea from that gizzard lining and use it to treat digestive ailments. This Amazon listing for them (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) includes what looks like a Chinese name for them so maybe @liuzhou is familiar with that usage.

Yeah. 鸡内金 (jī nèi jīn) is another of the ludicrous things that are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for various complaints, with no scientific basis.

No culinary value and no medicinal value either.

Edited 46 minutes ago by liuzhou (log)

**Shelby** · 2025-12-06T16:29:45Z

6 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Yeah. 鸡内金 (jī nèi jīn) is another of the ludicrous things that are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for various complaints, with no scientific basis.

No culinary value and no medicinal value either.

*putting the teapot away*

**Shelby** · 2025-12-06T16:47:04Z

55 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@Shelby I just had a thought - if (next time) there's not enough PCs, you could use a SteamBoy on Supersteam at 250F which would pretty much completely recreate the environment in a pressure cooker at full pressure....

I should have asked here sooner--would have saved me a panic attack lol. Super steam would really do the same thing as the IP? Would I use the same amount of time?

SLB · 2025-12-06T16:52:59Z

Shelby, you have outdone yourself. Also? I now want gizzards, So.Very.Badly. [Aside -- over a decade ago, I was dating a man who lived far away, in a relationship that involved a lot of travel. He liked livers and gizzards, and I was collecting them over months, chicken by chicken, cleaned and frozen in milk. At about the time I had a reasonable volume, he dumped me.]

But where was I?

Um. You know how Ronnie gets to have a Friend in teh blind? I think you need a Friend in the kitchen. My guess is, there may be a lot of e-Gullet friend/applicants for the position, but I definitely think it should be me. As I said several hunts ago, I am willing to mop, and I would pour the wine. More important, as Designated Friend, I would have your coffee ready this morning. It would be Irish-style! So then you could go right back to bed.

Sign In

'Tis Hunting Time—A smallish blog

Recommended Posts

Similar Content

Recently Browsing 2 members