Have you been looking for an inexpensive, vitamin rich source of protein to serve to your family? If so, you may want to consider giving chicken livers a try. Based on my experience, they are nutritious and may be cooked in a variety of ways. Here’s a quick look at a few of them:
Teriyaki Kabobs
One of my favorite ways to prepare chicken livers is to make teriyaki kabobs on the grill. In order to make the dish, you’ll need to obtain 1 pound of chicken livers, ½ cup of superfine sugar, ½ cup of water and ½ cup of soy sauce. I use the superfine sugar because it dissolves quickly. However, you could feasibly use granulated or brown sugar instead. If you are watching your salt intake, you may also substitute low sodium soy sauce for the more traditional one.
Once you have your ingredients, mix up a bowl full of marinade using the sugar, water and soy sauce. Then completely submerge the chicken livers into the liquid and place the bowl inside your refrigerator for a minimum of two hours. When the chicken livers are finished marinating, place them onto skewers with the vegetables of your choice. I like to use onions, green peppers, tomatoes and zucchini on my skewers. Afterward, grill the kabobs until the meat and vegetables are cooked through. Then serve the kabobs with one of your family’s favorite dipping sauces.
Pan Fried Teriyaki Style
If it is too cold or rainy to grill outside, you may want to think about making pan fried, teriyaki style chicken livers instead. Just marinate the livers as if you were going to make the kabobs. Once that’s done, dredge the livers into flour and then fry them in hot oil. When they have finished cooking, remove them from the pan and place them onto paper towels for a minute or two. Doing so will help to eliminate the extra grease. Then you can go ahead and serve the chicken livers to your family. I’d suggest pairing them with sautéed onions, corn on the cob, garlic mashed potatoes and brown gravy. In my experience, they tend to go well together.
Bacon Wraps
Not a fan of soy sauce? Well then, how about bacon? I have found that chicken livers also taste wonderful when pan fried with bacon and water chestnuts. The best way to do that is to spread your chicken livers out onto counter. Then top each one with a piece of water chestnut (canned). Next, wrap the bundles with bacon and hold it into place with wooden toothpicks. Afterward, fry them in a pan with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once the bacon gets nice and crisp, remove the bundles from the pan. Then serve them with dipping sauces or the sides of your choice. I typically serve them with soy sauce.
Source: Personal Experience
More from this contributor:
How to Disjoint and Cut Up a Whole Chicken
Best Chicken Marinades for Backyard Grilling
How to Get the Most Value Out of a Holiday Turkey
Seasonal Cooking: 2 Orange and Chicken Inspired Entrees
