Is your bacon pliable enough to wrap around the livers? Even if it is, I'd suspect that there won't be much more fat to render which should baste and flavor the livers. I've never made these, but being someone who likes bacon well done I typically par cook bacon at least a bit for something like this.

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, both bacons are pliable.

On second (and 3rd and 4th) thought - you may be right. The livers may come out too dry.

BUT, what if I marinate the livers first. lol

Funny you should post this today because I just finished prepping chicken livers to cook as kabobs threaded with bacon and onion slices on the grill tonight.

I don't think marinating would be much of a factor other than if they're very drippy, it will take a bit of time for the marinade to cook off. If you pat the excess marinade off before cooking, it shouldn't make any difference.

I par cooked the onion petals for about two minutes in the microwave but am not pre-cooking the bacon at all. It's smoked pork bacon with no water added to it. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Welcome to the Forum RosalieRosie!

It is tricky to try to marry bacon with another meat. Bacon requires such long cooking time and high heat.

Do you think the following could work for what you have in mind?

Fry bacon until crispy, then either chop the bacon into bits or grind the bacon into bacon powder.

Now Fry your liver in the bacon fat and bacon juice until the liver is just done.

Finally, sprinkle the bacon bits/powder on top as a garnish.

dcarch

Double post deleted.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 12:41

If I were using normal (raw) bacon with an oven for heat source, I would part cook it, then wrap around the livers, holding in place using toothpicks, and finish baking. Leave the toothpicks in as guests will need some way to pick these up anyway.

Alternatively, I would wrap the completely raw bacon around the livers, round and round like a ball of string, to get complete coverage. The fatty bacon will stick to itself a bit, making a toothpick unnecessary. Then I would deep fry the balls in small batches. Do a test ball. If your oil is hot (>350 F) then about 2 minutes should be enough to get the bacon crispy. The bacon will insulate the liver a bit, so the liver may be just right. If it is overcooked, then try refrigerating the balls, or even part-freezing them. The colder the ball when it is placed in the oil, the less the interior will get cooked in that 2 minutes. The bacon on the outside will cook quickly no matter what.

If you use the fully cooked bacon, then I'd think the timing should be even easier. Probably no reason to par-cook the bacon or refrigerate the balls. But I've never used pre-cooked bacon.

I've made balls of bacon wrapped around salmon wrapped around Gorgonzola cheese using the refrigerate-then-deep fry process, and it works great. The key is to completely wrap the interior stuff with the bacon. If one end is open to hot oil, the interior gets cooked too quickly.

Bacon-wrapped liver report: because my raw bacon slices were long, I ended up threading them on the skewers in ribbon candy style with the livers nestled in the loops of bacon. The livers were partially exposed to the heat from the grill but basted by lots of melted fat. The bacon was done, golden and firm but not overly crispy and the livers were firm on the outside but pink all the way through.

Spouse thought the livers were a bit too pink for him but did not want to return them to the grill because he thought the bacon was just right. The negative part was that the kabobs with multiple livers looked ugly on the plate when unskewered and didn't have much flavor except for bacon.

My usual way to prepare them is to fry some 1/2" slices of bacon; remove and reserve; then brown the livers in the bacon fat and remove. Fry chopped onion in remaining fat, add rice, broth, basil and bay leaf to skillet and simmer. Add liver back to pan with rice for the last few minutes of cooking. Serve topped with parsley and bacon strips to stir in.

Our final verdict was that we prefer them cooked that way better than grilled.

How were yours, Rosalie? Did you end up marinating them?

OMG, Everyone - thanks for the ideas!

Dig this - I called Oscar Meyer (owned by Kraft) to get their take and then to report back here. I mentioned to the young woman that they have the pre-cooked bacon recipes for water chestnuts but not chicken livers. She went quiet and only said "water chestnuts?" and, after a pause, "It's on the Kraft site?". Jeez. You could hear her salivating, especially when I told her about the honey and maple sauces. lol

Long story short, no kidding: No one there ever heard of this. And she asked. She also suggested that I try the livers with both the regular and pre-cooked bacons and to call back with the recipes. Honest-ta-Gawd.

I'm going over to my son's this week-end, so, I guess I will try four kinds out: one with pre-cooked, one with turkey bacon, one with raw bacon and the last of half-cooked bacon.

Johnliu, the salmon idea was exquisite! Ruthanna, your usual way of preparing is really making me hungry - honest! dcarch, your idea is just wonderful when ya need both flavors but'cha just don't have time for razzamatazz.

Oh, I also put in a request to our local TV Chef Dan Eaton. Yeah, well, this w/e will be over with first, but, I'd be interested in his suggestions - if he responds.

Okay, Ruthanna, now that you're my on-line cooking boss, I put up a report next week.

I wonder if the turkey and already cooked bacon would need basting. O-h-h, so many livers, so little time.

Way to go, Rosalie! You might be starting a new chicken liver trend. Back in the olden days, I think they called them rumaki so you could try doing a search for that and seeing what info. you can find.

Here's the actual recipe for the chicken livers I was describing.

CHICKEN LIVERS AND RICE - 2 to 3 servings

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/ 2 inch slices
1 lb. chicken livers, trimmed and quartered
1/ 4 cup flour
1/ 2 tsp. salt
1/ 4 tsp. pepper
1/ 2 cup chopped onion
1/ 2 cup uncooked rice
1 envelope instant chicken broth**
1/ 2 tsp. dried basil, crumbled
1 whole bay leaf
1 1/ 4 cup water
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley (do not omit)

Cook bacon until crisp in large skillet. Combine flour, salt and pepper and dredge chicken livers in it. Remove bacon and reserve. Brown livers in bacon grease. Remove and reserve. Saute onion over medium heat in same skillet (add 1 Tbs. olive oil if needed.) Stir in rice, broth pack, basil, bay leaf and water. Heat to boiling; then turn heat to low. Stir mixture thoroughly, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Cover. Simmer 20 minutes without lifting lid. Spoon reserved livers over rice but don't stir. Put lid back on and simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove bay leaf. Sprinkle with bacon and chopped parsley.

**Note: You can substitute 1 1/ 4 cups of chicken broth for the water and omit the instant chicken broth packet.

Mmmm. Rumaki. One of my all time favorite appetizers from long ago cocktail parties my parents threw. Total yum!

Here is a link that might be useful: just like I remember, not elegant, but TASTY!

Hiya!

Media Report:

Dan Eaton never got back to me, but, Kraft did.

This is what I asked: "Can I wrap your fully cooked bacon around chicken livers and broil them (recipe, please :)) or should I get your regular bacon."

This is Kim's reply: "I wanted to get back to you regarding your recipe request. I was unable to tell from your e-mail exactly which recipe you were looking for." She then proceeded to tell me how to look up ingredients on the Kraft site.

So, apparently, she's 12. lol

Random Thoughts Thunk While Cooking:

A cook is only as good as the ingredients and ingenuity used.

What a nightmare. What a colossal nightmare. lol

For the non-liver lovers, chicken would've been a good substitute, but did I get breasts or tenders. No. I got thighs because it reminded me of a dinner made by my Aunt Mary-on-the-farm when I was a child. I cleaned and cut for a very long time.

The chicken livers were frozen, but, in the past, it's never been a problem. These things were just awful - all mashed up together (like someone took a meat pounder) to the point where I really had to hunt for the connective tissue. Just in case, going to a real butcher instead of taking a chance at the supermarket was supposed to not have this problem. Surprise.

I can't even give him the benefit of the doubt and I tried. No self respecting cook would ever use this things in a sauce or a soup.

I've cooked purchased, pre-cooked, bacon once before for BLTs but really didn't pay that much attention to it other than the fact it cooked quickly without grease everywhere.

Last night, I really got a chance to eyeball it. When the box says to cook it til crispy, it really means to cook until dry. There's a difference. lol I didn't use it.

So, prosciutto wouldn't be a good candidate for rumaki. Pancetta would, though.

I didn't use pancetta because I wasn't quite sure how it would go with the marinade and other stuff I was making. So, I used a nice smoky bacon.

More later.

Nice photo array, Rob333!