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2.05.2014

Crispy chicken livers

It's February! And there is so much snow everywhere! I've been getting a little more use of my snowshoes with all this snow. I also have been cooking lots of familiar (aka already posted) recipes and simple dishes that really are not so stellar in the blog posting world - stew, meat with roasted or sauteed veggies, carrot porridge, and more pork belly. I had a phone call with my homeopath a few weeks ago, and she was asking me about any food cravings. I told her really the main thing was fat and pork belly. : )

I did also try a new liver recipe from my now-returned-to-the-library copy of Well Fed 2. It's an interesting one because you soak the livers in some coconut milk, then coat them in a mix of spices, coconut flour, and arrowroot powder to fry. They turned out delicious, but I had some difficulty with the coconut milk/flour combo. It's like the coconut milk absorbed the flour, and then fell off the livers, which were then barely coated in the flour mix. (I still fried up some of the floury bits and they were really good!) SO I don't know if I need to really let the livers drip off coconut milk, or maybe my coconut milk was a little too thick? I might try this recipe again and just eliminate the coconut milk step all together. The spices in the flour mix were really, really good - a Moroccan flavored blend with some heat from the cayenne. I ate them with fresh mint, which was really nice. Fresh mint this time of year feels a bit novel - and not local. Maybe I could try growing it in a pot inside?

1 lb chicken livers
1/2 c coconut milk
1/3 c coconut flour
2 T arrowroot powder
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp coarse garlic powder
1/2 T cumin
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp cayenne
2-4 T coconut oil (I used pork belly fat/lard which gets things extra crispy!)
lemon/herbs to garnish (parsley, cilantro, mint)

1. Cut livers into 2" pieces. Marinate in coconut milk for 10 minutes.
2. In shallow bowl, combine flour, arrowroot, and spices. But flour mix in a baggie with drained livers, and shake to coat. *This is where mine got a little messy - the coconut milk clumped in the flour.
3. Heat oil/fat in a large skillet on med-high. Once it is hot, add livers in a single layer and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until brown and crispy. This will take 2-3 batches to fry all livers - add more fat as needed because they soak it up!
4. Serve with fresh herbs and/or some fresh lemon juice sprinkled on top. I ate this with a chilled Moroccan carrot salad, and the two were great together (i love that salad!)

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