Whisk Wednesdays—Salade de Foies de Volailles Tiedes (Salad of Warm Sautéed Chicken Livers)

A simple salad appetizer topped with slippery liver that's been sautéed lightly and finished with a little shallot-wine sauce thickened with crème fraîche. Nothing too tricky and everything is delicious…except the liver.

If I had used foie gras, the perfect substitute, I could tell you all about how foie gras is made and possibly get into trouble from activists about how geese are force fed for the last few weeks of their lives. Do the geese mind the funnel-feeding? Does the liver of ethically-raised geese who naturally gorge themselves taste better than geese that have been force fed? Unfortunately, I didn't have time to run out to buy this delicacy as I had intended to.

"Every good chicken has a good liver."
— Peter Hoffman

But I do have a bit of time to think, read and ponder foie gras. Before I knew much about it, I had tasted it and found it smooth, custardy, salty, rich and good. Pan fried lightly in a touch of butter, ending with a bit of a crust and a smooth, velvety center, it was memorable. It was served as part of the main dish at a restaurant that was paying tribute to Julia Child shortly after she died. I ordered Tournedos Rossini (Filet Steaks with Foie gras, Truffles, and Madeira Sauce) found on page 299 in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I: 40th Anniversary Edition. But the fois gras is what stood tall in my memory banks. And how different is fois gras (besides cost!) from chicken liver? I wish I'd had the time to source some fois gras this week just to compare the two offals.

"On a ritz, on a stick, in a box, with some lox...Chicken Liver."
— Chicken Liver

Working through this curriculum, I've made several dishes that I wouldn't normally come home from work and choose to make. Frog legs, chicken liver, caul fat encased sausage and soon rabbit are examples. Why does the vision of Hannibal Lecter whispering in my ear linger each time I'm about to sample something unfamiliar, causing me to take a deep breath before taking a taste? Why don't I feel guilt or discomfort when I put a piece of beef tenderloin in my mouth? Is it any different? No, it's just more familiar.

"Real cooks have hard hearts." — Marjorie Leet Ford

Recipe

Serves 6 (I halved the recipe.)

1 head escarole
1 head red leaf lettuce

For the Vinaigrette:
¼ cup sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chervil or parsley, chopped

1 pound chicken livers
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
½ cup port wine
¾ cup crème fraîche or heavy cream (or sour cream)
1 tablespoons chervil or parsley, chopped
You can find the recipe for Salade de Foies de Volailles Tiedes (Salad of Warm Sautéed Chicken Livers) in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home or here. To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group fared with their recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and then click on each blogger!

Serve with Chianti.

Tasting Notes
I did a tasting and confirmed that chicken liver is not for me. The vinaigrette was tangy and the pink color of the sauce on the liver was pretty. But next time I'll use regular chicken breast or foie gras instead.

"My idea of heaven is eating patés de foie gras to the sound of trumpets." — Sydney Smith, English writer (1771-1845)

Links
• Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations, Foie Gras Not Cruel
• Bay Area Bites: Foie Gras: Duck, duck, goose
• Salon.com: Relax, it's just foie gras
• TED Talk: Dan Barber's foie gras parable

My Bucket List

Taste fois gras from Eduardo Sousa's farm.

Next Class
• Longe de Porc aux Pruneaux (Roast Pork Loin with Prunes) and Mousseline de Céleri Rave (Creamed Celery Root Purée) pages 122-123

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $1,341.87 + $5.04 = $1,346.91
($1.68 per serving)

Butter used so far: 12 pounds, 3.5 tablespoons

. . . . . . . . . .

::Whisk Wednesdays::
We're cooking our way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, we try to find a suitable substitution. Find out more here.

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