Eons ago (that is, the early 90s) we lived within walking of an independent city grocery store. Because it wasn’t a chain, it catered much more to its neighborhood tastes and desires than it might otherwise. We could find lots of sturdy greens, smoked random animal parts, great porchetta roasts and a variety of organ meat.
While I did make a Steak and Kidney with Mustard Sauce Pie using ingredients from there, today we’re going to talk about chicken hearts and gizzards.
This mix of giblets goes back quite a long ways in our family, and judging by a quick search, many families. However, it has sometimes been hard to find a good mix to make this dish. Often packages of “Chicken hearts and gizzards” were long on the gizzards with only a heart or two thrown in. Still, we kept making the recipe, whatever the balance.
Lately, though, I’ve discovered that our local Asian grocery, in its semi-hidden meat department in the back, has each separately in bulk. So I can readily buy a pound and a half of each and create three one pound freezer bags of a 50/50 mix.
So now, along with quail eggs, pork floss, peeled garlic and assorted ramen, I fetch home these bitty bits for us to enjoy.
Chicken Innards in Beer
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken giblets Hearts and gizzards
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 oz beer Amber or dark
- 1 tbsp paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp cornstarch optional
Instructions
- Chop the onion.
- Clean the little globs of fat from the hearts and the heaviest connective tissue from the gizzards. Rough chop the chicken giblets. You are only trying to break them open, mostly, so hearts in half and gizzards with globes separated since you've removed the connective tissue.
- Sautee the onion in the olive oil until translucent over medium high heat.
- Add innards and a couple of pinches of salt and lightly brown, stirring often. After 7-10 minutes, a sort of gravy will begin to form in the pan.
- Add beer. Let most of the alcohol evaporate, then reduce the heat, add the paprika, and simmer for 25-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.If you use the recommended 6 ounces of beer, you can skip the next step, because this will reduce to a sauced dish. If, on the other hand, you are like me and sometimes get lazy and add the full bottle of beer, keep going.
- Remove some of the liquid to a small bowl. Mix smoothly with the cornstarch. Add back to pan and stir to thicken the sauce.
- Serve over egg noodles or with roasted veggies.
