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Chicken Livers Sauted
3 tablespoons shortening 6 livers 1 teaspoon onion juice 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup stock 1 teaspoon lemon juice seasoning Melt the shortening and cook the livers and onion juice in it for 3 minutes; add the flour, stir smoothly, and pour in the stock; bring to the boiling point and cook 2 minutes. Season, and serve at once or the livers will become tough. Serves 4 to 6.
A quick pan sauce built in three steps, and the closing line is the whole point: liver toughens the moment it overcooks. Everything else here is straightforward once the older shorthand is decoded.
- "6 livers"Chicken livers run roughly an ounce each, so this is something like 6 oz total, about one small supermarket tub. Trim the connective tissue and any green-tinged spot, and pat them very dry so they brown rather than steam.
- ShorteningIn an American book of this vintage this means vegetable shortening or lard, whichever was cheapest to hand. Butter, or butter cut with a spoonful of oil, gives a better result in a pan sauce this short.
- Onion juiceGrate half a small onion on a fine grater and press the pulp through a sieve, or press a peeled chunk in a garlic press. It gives onion flavour without pieces that would need longer cooking than the livers can stand.
- StockOne cup; chicken stock is the obvious choice here, though the original just says "stock." If you use commercial low-sodium broth, hold back on salt until after the sauce has thickened and reduced slightly.
- The hingeTotal cooking time is about five minutes. Sear the livers, build the sauce, and stop. Livers held at a simmer go grainy and dry, which is exactly what the original warns against.
- DonenessPoultry liver should be cooked through to a firm, uniformly brown interior with no red or wet centre. Three minutes in fat plus two in simmering stock will usually do it for ordinary-sized livers; give thick ones a moment longer rather than serving them rare.
- ThickeningTwo tablespoons of flour to one cup of stock is the usual medium-sauce ratio, so expect a sauce that coats rather than a thin gravy. Add the stock gradually and stir hard to keep it smooth; thin with a little more stock if you want it pourable.
- ServingServes 4 to 6 as part of a larger plate rather than as a main course on its own. Good on toast.