Saturday, April 23, 2011

How awful is offal? The wizard of gizzard strikes again.




The first thing I have to say is that I am seriously hacked off that my computer lost this whole posting about 30 minutes ago. So I am starting all over. I will skip the part about how many of you won't eat anything but skinless boneless chicken breasts. You have no idea what you are missing. Liver, gizzard, heart and neck (not to mention the little bits in between the backbones - maybe they are kidneys, don't know). If you starve your husband and your children for long enough they will eat what is known as "offal", oddments of animal protein. I bought a package of hearts and gizzards (almost entirely gizzards) this afternoon. I trimmed them up a bit, and browned them in olive oil and butter, and seasoned them with some of my Garcon*. Then I added some homemade chicken stock (oh, first I deglazed the pan with a bit of white wine). They need a good two to three hours to tenderize. About half way through I tossed in some leftover corn kernels and half a large jalapeno (seeds included). Near the end I chopped up some whole canned roma tomatoes and put them in. Call me crazy, but keep reading me. In the end I decided to eat this as a soup. I could have made some rice or some pasta. I am, however, "HOME ALONE." So I just do whatever seems right at the moment.



*Garcon will eventually become as well known as Emeril's Essence.

5 comments:

  1. Too bad I didn't send Bill your way! He would've loved this as he enjoys all those "offal" oddments also. My dad thought the neck was the best part of the chicken. I missed something somewhere... Your soup does sound good though with the corn and tomatoes in it. Happy Easter!

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  2. This sounds so good! I definitely think boneless, skinless chicken breasts are my least favorite part of the chicken! They get too dry, too fast! =)

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  3. I always prefer bone in, skin on chickens. And I love offal. None of my friends do, so I very often have to eat it by myself... which I don't mind. More food for me.

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  4. I love gizzards and livers. Fried, sauteed, baked, and now this way... sounds delightful!!

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  5. Goodness, I must be out of touch. This isn't my style, but I love the cooking process. At least you make it *sound* like I would like gizzards :-)

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