I found a recipe for vegetarian chopped liver that was once served at the "Famous Diary Restaurant" on 72nd Street in New York City. It was a great restaurant. I used to go their for their pierogi, but I believe I did have some of what they called "mock chopped liver." If it was bad, I'd remember. My memory is elusive, but perhaps this is where I did have the faux liver that I once thought was so good. Here's the recipe, and yes, it does need a food processor to make:
3 chopped onions, cooked slowly in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil until golden brown.
2 cups of cooked green beans
1 3/4 cups cooked peas
3 hard boiled eggs
20 Tam Tams or other salty crackers
salt and pepper to taste
Put everything in a food processor and process until well mixed.
I bet it tastes more like my grandmother's recipe with some celery or celery seeds thrown in. If someone tries this recipe, I'd like a report. Not much to it, is there?
Image note (if you can call it that): I was going to post a picture of chopped liver, but y'know, it really looks like a pile of poop. Here's a link to the Wikipedia page on the expression "Oy vey", which I spelled wrong. Who knew? Obviously, not I.
11 comments:
I used to go to Famous also. I liked their Kasha Varnishkes. Never had their mock chopped liver. I liked the fact that you could help yourself to seltzer from a a spout instead of plain water.
Yup-that's the Larry you think it is!
Mushed green beans and peas?! Is that what chicken liver tastes like?!
of course not. You have to add liver extract.
Well, no, at first I thought it was my cousin Larry. Hi Larry, having a good time in New Yawk?
TMC, since I've lost most of my sarcasm, I'll answer your question. What does liver taste like? I've forgotten. What I do remember is the taste of salt, caramelized onions, and celery. So, I'm thinking that liver is a little bit like tofu in that it soaks up whatever it's soaked or cooked in. Now, comparing it to tofu may get be booted out of some clubs, but. . .
Anyhoo, I have tasted mock chopped liver that tasted just like the real thing, so why eat the liver? Now, fakin' bacon is another story. Can't fake that. No way.
Hi Julie
As a carnivore and recent eater of chopped liver and a (less recent) eater of sauteed chicken livers, I have to disagree with your tofu analogy. Chicken liver does have a pretty strong taste. By the way, I haven't checked recently, but when I was looking for chicken livers a few years ago, they were very hard to find in the supermarket. My vet says I should feed it raw to my cats.
If you want to hear another chopped liver anecdote: Susan and I went to a dive restaurant on Avenue A owned by comedian Jimmy Fallon because I wanted to eat its hamburger with a smear of chopped liver and topped with a fried egg. Unfortunately, we got there too early and didn't feel like waiting until it opened.
I defer to Larry, who has recently eaten liver. I wonder why I have no memory of the taste. I can almost smell the aroma in my mind, but again, it is one of carmelizing onions in a pan. . .Now, I remember how it would look when the livers were thrown in and mixed together in the same pan. . .a stronger smell that I have a slight recoil from. Okay, perhaps there was always something in me that felt strange about eating an animal's liver. Maybe I'm blocking it out. Maybe I'm taking this too seriously!
Why eat chicken liver? Because, if you're already eating the chicken, anyway, it's better to eat it than to waste it.
Okay, next time I make a chicken, I'll eat the liver. Then, I can say with authority what the stuff tastes like, instead of relying on my faulty memories.
But how will you cook it? Is it worth sauteing and dirtying a whole pan for a tiny piece of liver? Maybe it is to remember how it tastes. I usually give the liver and heart to my cats. You guys are giving me a craving for chopped liver. I'll be going to a kosher deli on Tuesday and I think I might order a side of chopped liver.
I'll do what my mother used to do - splash it with soy sauce, wrap it loosely in tin foil, and put in next to the roasting chicken.
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