Gratis Dictum:

Here's a little something i have been working on for a while. I will
quote the original recipe first, and then explain my dilemma, happily
resolved, and the changes i made to the recipe.

Potage aux foies de volaille a l'Anglise
(Chicken liver soup - English)

--

Mix 7 & 1/8 cups brown stock into 2 & 1/2 oz. blond roux and bring to
the boil.

Add 9 oz. chicken livers cut into slices and quickly sauted in 2 oz
butter to seal the outside.

Allow to cook for 15 minutes then remove the livers, pound them well and
replace the puree in the soup.

Pass through a fine sieve, season well with pepper and finish at the
last moment with 1/2 cup Madeira.

Garnish: 4 & 1/2 oz. light colored chicken liver, finely sliced and
sauted in a little butter added just before serving.

Le Guide Culinaire, A. Esocffier.

--

My first problem was the recipe did not read well, i could not
understand it on my first reading.

I came to think the chicken livers must be sliced and then sauted
separately, while the 'soup' of brown stock and roux simmer and thickens.

Naturally i added a bit of thinly sliced garlic as i sauted the sliced
chicken livers, reserving some few for the garnish.
There seems no good reason except to 'brown' the livers to cook them
separately for 15 minutes as the original recipe seems to imply.

After a nice 'browning' of the already dark meat, i placed them in the
simmering soup and then proceeded to go through the next few steps of
pureeing the liver & soup & adding the wine & garnish. I used a slotted
spoon and a food processor rather than the pounding and the sieve.

For taste alone this turned out ok, but a plate or bowel of a hot liquid
just puts me off. Soup! insipid liquid. Now i like a good hearty stew
or nice big minestrone or other types of soups one can actually eat,
rather than sip daintily.

So i began to tinker, sauted the sliced chicken livers with sliced white
of leek as well as garlic, when done i transferred them to the 'soup' i
had made with a home made fish stock and roux. Then simmered the whole
thing for 15 minutes, before adding a half cup of gallo chenine blanc
and serving, eliminating the pureeing all together and seeing no need
for a garnish of whole chicken livers. Though just cause i like them i
offered a bowl of my own garlic herb croutons with the soup.

Now im thinking onion soup and/or leek and potato soup with chicken livers.

Onion soup made with shrimp stock instead of beef, and add the chicken
livers and shrimp?
--
Joseph Littleshoes

Nina > wrote:

>Browning seals the juices

Disproven.

Steve

Nina wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:21:10 -0700, Joseph Littleshoes
> > wrote:
>
>
>>Naturally i added a bit of thinly sliced garlic as i sauted the sliced
>>chicken livers, reserving some few for the garnish.
>>There seems no good reason except to 'brown' the livers to cook them
>>separately for 15 minutes as the original recipe seems to imply.
>
>
> Browning seals the juices and builds flavor, so it does have a point
> other than color.
>
>

Yes but for 15 minutes? that just seems a bit excessive to me, and i
think the 15 minutes in the original recipe refers to the amount of time
they are simmered in the soup.
--
JL

On Aug 17, 1:21*pm, Joseph Littleshoes > wrote:
> Gratis Dictum:
>
> Here's a little something i have been working on for a while. *I will
> quote the original recipe first, and then explain my dilemma, happily
> resolved, and the changes i made to the recipe.....[big snips]

> Now im thinking onion soup and/or leek and potato soup with chicken livers.
>
> Onion soup made with shrimp stock instead of beef, and add the chicken
> livers and shrimp?
> --

Can't tell if you're asking any questions or seeking comments. Where
you're going is so different in so many ways from where the original
recipe started that it's irrelevant whether you ever understood it.

I can visualize the first recipe and think I might like a small bowl
of it as the first course of a multi-course meal.

Where you're going is much murkier in my imagination. While I like
both chicken livers and shrimp I've never thought of them together.
I can visualize your soup standing by itself, maybe with some garlic
toast for lunch, but I can't see it as the prelude to a dinner. -
aem

On Aug 17, 4:21�pm, Joseph Littleshoes > wrote:
> Gratis Dictum:
>
> Here's a little something i have been working on for a while. �I will
> quote the original recipe first, and then explain my dilemma, happily
> resolved, and the changes i made to the recipe.
>
> Potage aux foies de volaille a l'Anglise
> (Chicken liver soup - English)
>
> --
>
> Mix 7 & 1/8 cups brown stock into 2 & 1/2 oz. blond roux and bring to
> the boil.
>
> Add 9 oz. chicken livers cut into slices and quickly sauted in 2 oz
> butter to seal the outside.
>
> Allow to cook for 15 minutes then remove the livers, pound them well and
> replace the puree in the soup.
>
> Pass through a fine sieve, season well with pepper and finish at the
> last moment with 1/2 cup Madeira.
>
> Garnish: �4 & 1/2 oz. light colored chicken liver, finely sliced and
> sauted in a little butter added just before serving.
>
> Le Guide Culinaire, A. Esocffier.
>
> --
>
> My first problem was the recipe did not read well, i could not
> understand it on my first reading.
>
> I came to think the chicken livers must be sliced and then sauted
> separately, while the 'soup' of brown stock and roux simmer and thickens.
>
> Naturally i added a bit of thinly sliced garlic as i sauted the sliced
> chicken livers, reserving some few for the garnish.
> There seems no good reason except to 'brown' the livers to cook them
> separately for 15 minutes as the original recipe seems to imply.
>
> After a nice 'browning' of the already dark meat, i placed them in the
> simmering soup and then proceeded to go through the next few steps of
> pureeing the liver & soup & adding the wine & garnish. �I used a slotted
> spoon and a food processor rather than the pounding and the sieve.
>
> For taste alone this turned out ok, but a plate or bowel of a hot liquid
> just puts me off. �Soup! insipid liquid. �Now i like a good hearty stew
> or nice big minestrone or other types of soups one can actually eat,
> rather than sip daintily.
>
> So i began to tinker, sauted the sliced chicken livers with sliced white
> of leek as well as garlic, when done i transferred them to the 'soup' i
> had made with a home made fish stock and roux. �Then simmered the whole
> thing for 15 minutes, before adding a half cup of gallo chenine blanc
> and serving, eliminating the pureeing all together and seeing no need
> for a garnish of whole chicken livers. �Though just cause �i like them i
> offered a bowl of my own garlic herb croutons with the soup.
>
> Now im thinking onion soup and/or leek and potato soup with chicken livers.
>
> Onion soup made with shrimp stock instead of beef, and add the chicken
> livers and shrimp?
> --
> Joseph Littleshoes

I like chicken liver, but this, this isTIAD disgusting... liver and
shrimp, yup, you're a scuzz.

aem wrote:
> On Aug 17, 1:21�pm, Joseph Littleshoes > wrote:
>
>>Gratis Dictum:
>>
>>Here's a little something i have been working on for a while. �I will
>>quote the original recipe first, and then explain my dilemma, happily
>>resolved, and the changes i made to the recipe.....[big snips]
>
>
>>Now im thinking onion soup and/or leek and potato soup with chicken livers.
>>
>>Onion soup made with shrimp stock instead of beef, and add the chicken
>>livers and shrimp?
>>--
>
>
> Can't tell if you're asking any questions or seeking comments. Where
> you're going is so different in so many ways from where the original
> recipe started that it's irrelevant whether you ever understood it.
>
> I can visualize the first recipe and think I might like a small bowl
> of it as the first course of a multi-course meal.
>
> Where you're going is much murkier in my imagination. While I like
> both chicken livers and shrimp I've never thought of them together.
> I can visualize your soup standing by itself, maybe with some garlic
> toast for lunch, but I can't see it as the prelude to a dinner. -
> aem
>
>
Im always looking for ways to combine the flavors of chicken and shrimp,
its one of my favorite combinations.
I have a fricassee recipe which simmers a breaded chicken breast in beef
gravy and red wine, delicious.
--
JL

On Aug 18, 6:57*pm, Joseph Littleshoes > wrote:
>
> Im always looking for ways to combine the flavors of chicken and shrimp,
> its one of my favorite combinations.

I'll put both white meat chicken and shrimp in fried rice or chow
mein. Not chicken livers.

> I have a fricassee recipe which simmers a breaded chicken breast in beef
> gravy and red wine, delicious.
> --
You lost me again. Clearly, your tastes are different from mine.
What kind of breading can withstand being simmered? What kind of
chicken breast retains its identity after simmering in beef gravy and
red wine? -aem

aem wrote:
> On Aug 18, 6:57�pm, Joseph Littleshoes > wrote:
>
>>Im always looking for ways to combine the flavors of chicken and shrimp,
>>its one of my favorite combinations.
>
>
> I'll put both white meat chicken and shrimp in fried rice or chow
> mein. Not chicken livers.

*shrug* i was only theorizing, i have not tried it ... yet.
>
>
>>I have a fricassee recipe which simmers a breaded chicken breast in beef
>>gravy and red wine, delicious.
>>--
>
> You lost me again. Clearly, your tastes are different from mine.
> What kind of breading can withstand being simmered? What kind of
> chicken breast retains its identity after simmering in beef gravy and
> red wine? -aem

The original colonial recipe call for using only egg yolk, not whole
eggs, the boneless, skinless breast of chicken is dipped in beaten egg
yolk then in seasoned bread crumbs and quickly browned on top of the
stove in butter or oil (originally lard iirc) to 'set' the breading,
then immersed in the beef gravy and red wine and simmered for about 15 -
20 minutes.

The chicken removed, sliced for service and the gravy served separately
as a sauce for potatoes or rice.

You would be surprised at how good it is.
--
JL