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Chicken - liver, gizzard, heart

17 years ago

You know how when you buy a whole chicken there is the 'stuff' inside? How do you tell what is what?

I'm wanting to make a rice dish tonight and I'm remembering a recipe that calls for the 'innards' (don't laugh) ok, go ahead and laugh. Anyway, I've read quite a few recipes that say to leave one of them out. Is it the liver or the heart? Can't remember and can't find the recipe. And... how do you tell the difference?

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Comments (6)

ghoghunter
17 years ago
Well the liver is the really soft sqishy part, the heart is a little round or oval (not really heart shaped)part and the gizzard are the firmest roundest part. In my family I always cook them with the neck in chicken broth and then when my son was home we would sort of juggle to see who would get to eat the liver and heart. We all loved them..I like the gizzard too...we used them like treats before dinner We do that at Thanksgiving too with the turkey. When you have a large turkey of course they are all bigger but still like the description above. I don't have a picture to share so I hope my description makes sense!
Joann
rob333 (zone 7b)
17 years ago
I was wondering if I was the only one the other night...

I think of those as those as hors d'ouevres eaten while wating on the baked chicken. ghog, I feel less alone "...we used them like treats before dinner" (((smiles)))
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Coming to this thread late, but - I like most organ meats. I buy hearts, spleens, livers, etc for very cheap at the Chinese store and make treats for me and the cat. My family and friends refuse to partake, so I haven't been very motivated to learn nice recipes for pig heart. When cooking for just me, I lean more toward caveman/starving grad student style cooking. Oh, and one of my favorite treats is your standard big pile of chopped liver at the Jewish deli. One thing I learned as a student was, order chopped liver and you get a ton of it, that and a knish and you're fed for the whole day. The next day, that is. This was typically something eaten at 4 am in Canters Jewish Deli in L.A., I forget where it was, Fairfax maybe? You know, you've been out all night clubbing and tripping at the Whiskey, everything's worn off, now you are really tired and really hungry. And you're 20 y/o - I hasten to add - the statute of limitations has long since run on all the silly things we used to do.
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When I was a kid, the only liver I liked was Jewish style chopped chicken liver...because any other kind of liver my mother made she just about cremated into too strongly flavored, dry, gritty slabs. I slice calves liver thin, dredge it in flour with seasonings (the type depends on my mood and what else I'm serving), and saute it in ghee (which can be heated quite hot without burning) or bacon fat. It MUST be pink in the middle and lightly browned on the outside. I have served this to people who swore they hated liver and they liked it (I didn't tell them what they were eating until they asked). I still love chopped chicken livers. Saute chicken livers until they're almost cooked through (as they sit, they'll finish cooking and not dry out). Hard boil eggs and chop. Bulk wise, you want just about half egg and half liver. Mince some red onion. Process half the liver until almost smooth, then add half the egg and process until the liver is smooth and the egg shows only in little bits. Then process the other half of the liver and egg until coarse and mix the two batches together. Add the minced onion to taste as well as salt & pepper. This is not a diet dish, so when sauteing the livers, use plenty of ghee or bacon fat, and scrape the pan drippings into the first batch of liver you puree. Serve it with crackers or toast points as a starter...it's wonderful if it's still warm or at least room temp. It also makes terrific sandwiches with sauerkraut or sweet pickles on rye. Jim, I'd completely forgotten about using chicken livers with spaghetti sauce! I haven't made that for years! Funny how one can really enjoy something and then just forget about it?? I was probably going through some diet phase or other for long enough to stop having it in my mind when I thought pasta!
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I don't think it was ground, but there used to be a restaurant in Jerusalem that specialized in organ meats, including heart. I remember that spine was particularly good. In fact, "mixed grill" is popular in Israel. But I don't remember ever seeing other organ meats ground. It may be that the fat and texture of liver, which maybe isn't as watery as the others, works best. eandhl, I don't know if you meant none of you asked your mothers and bubbies, but JessyF did ask me, on another string -- I wasn't just giving unrequested recipes. :-) LindaC, try it with schmaltz instead of butter next time. I know kashrut isn't a consideration for you, but that's not my reason. The flavor is so wonderful. I'd rather have real schmaltz once a year than nyafat every week.
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aliceinmd
17 years ago
You leave out the liver because its strong flavor can dominate a recipe and because it will make stocks cloudy. The gizzard is very firm and sometimes has a whitish membrane/skin appearance to it. The heart is a little softer, smaller, and has a definite shape. The liver is very amorphous, and somewhat flat.
annie1992
17 years ago
I agree, leave out the liver, or it can make everything taste like liver. I love chicken liver and cook it separately, but never add it to gravy, stock, soup, etc.

The gizzard is very "muscular", it's part of the digestive system and has to be cooked for quite a while before it's tender. The heart is shaped like the heart of every other creature and is the only piece left after identifying the liver and gizzard out of that little package of giblets.

My girls used to fight over the heart. I like gizzards done in the pressure cooker, it tenderizes them nicely. The livers I just want sauteed with bacon and onions.

The cooked gizzard and heart used to get diced up and added to the gravy when Grandma was cooking.

Annie
trsinc
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you! :)
centralcacyclist
17 years ago
I feed them all to my grateful Lab...

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