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Chicken Liver Spread

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An easy, classic chopped liver spread, smoked and grilled to bump up the flavor. Recipe courtesy of my father, Jerry Goldwyn.
Course:
Appetizer
,
Snack
Cuisine:
American
,
Jewish
difficulty scale
Author: David Joachim

Makes:

2 1/4 cups
Servings: 9 1/4 cup servings

Takes:

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Equipment

  • Grill topper
  • food processor or blender

Ingredients

  • 1 pound chicken livers and/or turkey livers
  • 1 large onion
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 tablespoon dried sage crumbled
  • 3 ounces cream sherry or sweet marsala wine
  • 1 apple any variety
  • 2 teaspoons Mortons Coarse Kosher Salt
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper medium grind
  • Grilled baguette slices, grilled garlic bread, pumpernickel thins, rye thins, matzoh, Triscuits, or any old cracker
Notes:
About the livers. You can buy chicken livers in many grocery stores. We keep a zipper bag of livers in the freezer and add to it whenever we buy a whole chicken or turkey.
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep.Wash the livers, pat them dry with a paper towel. Cut off the two ends of the onions, cut them in half along the equator, peel them, and cut the halves again into chunks. Put them in a bowl with the 1 tablespoon of the oil and toss them around until coated.
  • Peel, quarter, core, and coarsely chop the apple. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the apple and cook for about 10 minutes until the chunks get soft. Add the sage and black pepper and cook for about 1 minute. Add the sherry and turn the heat to high. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes burning off the alcohol. Trust me you don’t want it. Remove from the heat and add the salt.
  • Fire up. Start your smoker and aim for 225°F or set up a grill for 2-zone cooking, 325°F on the indirect side, and get some smoke rolling. Cook the livers on the indirect side until they turn dark on the outside and are no longer floppy. This will take only about 20 minutes. They may remain pink on the inside, but they will be cooked. At the same time grill the onion on the indirect side until the pieces are translucent, also about 20 minutes. Chop them into bite sized chunks.
  • Dump the livers, onions, and apples into a food processor, and beat it up on a medium speed until it is a uniform paste. Go for smooth, but hey, a few small lumps won’t choke anyone. If you use a blender you will have to work in batches, but it should work. Taste and adjust salt and sherry as needed. Spoon into a bowl, cover, and chill. You can eat it warm, but I prefer it chilled.
  • Spread it on everything: crostini, crackers, sandwiches, bagels, rye bread, burgers... Go nuts and top with bacon onion jam from my first book, Meathead. Use it to enrich pasta sauce. Stuff it into puff pastry or mushroom caps for baking. Serve it alongside charcuterie on a cheese board. That's 10 ways to use it right there. Get creative and you'll come up with at least another 40 ways.

Nutrition per Serving

Serving: 4tablespoons | Calories: 176kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 201mg | Sodium: 555mg | Potassium: 174mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 5923IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 5mg