Sautéed Chicken Livers - the chef's treat

Roast chicken is a staple of any good cooks repertoire. But I would be willing to make a guess that the bag of nasty bits (an affectionate term) gets discarded by most people....and that is a shame.

So this can obviously be done on a larger scale, and it makes an incredible appetizer of Chicken liver Crostini if you are having a dinner party, but something is satisfying about using those two livers that come with your chicken to make the perfect little snack for you...the chef.

Ingredients

Chicken Livers and hart cut in half from the bag of goodies inside a whole chicken

1 small shallot finely chopped

2 tbs unsalted butter

2-3 sprigs of thyme, de-stemmed

2 tbs of Cognac or whiskey or bourbon or really any dark alcohol you like or happen to be drinking at the time

salt and pepper

Directions

In a small skillet melt the butter. Add the shallots and thyme once the butter is mostly melted and starts to get foamy.

Add the liver and heart and sauté for 5 mins basting with a spoon. About halfway through the 5 min give everything a flip to help it cook evenly.....but continue to bast. Carefully add the cognac and flambé to burn of the alcohol (if you have not flambeed before, cut back on the amount to better control the flame). Once the alcohol has cooked off, and the liquid has evaporated, remove the liver and hart and place on a cutting board and give them a rough chop.

Put the liver and hart back into the pan and give it a toss with a little salt and pepper.

Serve on a nice slice of toasted crusty bread.