Inventing Words As We Go

We don't eat chicken livers very often - we know they are bad, bad, bad. Too much cholesterol. Too much fat. Too rich for aging digestions. But, oooh, the flavor.

I have to admit the prepping them is not the most fun - sorting through, slicing off the connecting bits, and they do rather slither when you're cutting them into bite-size pieces. Prepping a roughly equal amount of mushrooms is far more enjoyable - just a quick rinse and pat dry before cutting in halves or quarters.

The cooking part is easy and quick. Toast a slice of bread, the better to soak up the future juice. Heat a wide frying pan and brown the mushrooms in about a gallon of butter (just kidding! but don't stint on the butter). Remove the mushrooms to a plate when they are nicely brown and add to the same pan a minced clove of garlic and half a finely chopped onion. Toss them around in the butter-and-mushroom juice until they are soft, then turn up the heat and quickly sear the chicken livers until they are nicely caramelized on the outside but still lightly pink inside. Add back the mushrooms and toss together. If you want to add herbs or a sprinkling of wine, those make the dish even better, but it's lovely even without.

Plate your toast and top with the livers, then pour just a driz of the goozle from the pan over the bibbits and serve.