Cooking Light (June 2014)
Summer's here! Time to fire up the grill for burgers, brats ... and ginger-glazed chicken livers?
Sometimes we're drawn to a particular recipe specifically because it's unexpected, and because it pulls us out of our comfort zone. And the idea of grilled chicken livers with a fresh-made plum sauce was so surprising, so unexpected and -- okay, we'll say it -- so weird that we just had to try it.
We actually both really like chicken livers. It's not like we're going to order a plate of them for dinner at a restaurant. But we do enjoy their intense dark flavor, especially as a pâté.
So we loved the idea of trying grilled chicken livers. The exotic flavors -- mirin, star anise, Sriracha and an intense amount of fresh ginger -- sounded like a delicious complement to the livers. And we also liked the notion of making our own plum sauce.
In the end, though, the reality didn't live up to our expectations. Yes, the spices helped jazz up the chicken livers, but not enough to be memorable.
And let's talk about that plum sauce. If you're picturing the kind of gooey, sickly sweet plum sauce you'd get with an order of Chinese take-out, think again. This plum sauce is spicy, a little tart and really delicious. And the recipe makes a flat ton of it. We have so much of it left in the fridge! We're thinking it would go great on grilled pork.
We didn't hate this dish (although Clay disliked it more than Zach did). We were just underwhelmed.
Maybe if we blended the whole thing together and served it on toast...?
Grilled Ginger-Glazed Chicken Livers with Spicy Plum Sauce
Recipe by Ruth Cousineau
Cooking Light (June 2014)
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(This photo: Cooking Light)
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Sriracha (hot chile sauce)
4 plums, pitted and quartered (about 1 pound)
1 star anise
1 (1-inch) cinnamon stick
1/2 cup mirin
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound chicken livers
Cooking spray
1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
Combine first 7 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer; cover and cook 15 minutes or until plums are tender. Discard star anise and cinnamon. Cool completely. Place in a blender; process until smooth.
Combine mirin, ginger, soy sauce, and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; cook 4 minutes or until reduced to 1/4 cup.
Trim excess fat and connective tissue from livers; separate livers into lobes. Pat livers dry with paper towels. Heat a grill pan over high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add half of livers to pan; cook 7 minutes or until slightly firm (like a cooked chicken breast), turning once. Remove from pan; brush with half of glaze. Repeat procedure with remaining livers and glaze. Serve with plum sauce and cucumber.
