I love chicken livers. And I don't mean that I love chicken livers like the guy next door loves pizza. The feelings I have about chicken livers are deep and profound, and reserved for very few other ingredients. There's something about their mild rich flavor combined with their creamy texture that simultaneously comforts and excites me.
Recently I ate dinner at Red Bones BBQ and had the smoked beef ribs, which were wonderful, but instead of beans I substituted a side of dirty rice. Now I'm sure that it was something about the name dirty that drew me to this rice, but what arrived with my ribs exceeded my hopes. Nothing really to look at, a light brown coloured rice with lumps of meat in it, but the flavor had all the calling cards of my favorite ingredient. Meaty and rich, and only subtly liver-y.
After looking at a few recipes online this is what I came up with. Probably nothing compared to what a Southern Mama makes, but still very flavorful. Pretty good for a Canadian.
After defrosting my chicken livers (yes, I have an emergency stash of liver in my freezer) I rinsed them and removed some of the ugly bits. Then I started frying the chicken livers, there are a few chicken hearts thrown in for good measure.
I spooned my rice into a bowl, brought out a bottle of tabasco and dug in. The liver flavor was there and had perfumed the dish, but adding that last splash of water and letting everything hang out for a bit before I ate had really brought everything together. The flavor of the vegetables was there, and because of chicken livers mild flavor none of the ingredients overpowered the dish, but all of them had their place. The tabasco added a really nice hint of vineager as well as some spice.