Quite a while ago, in a thread about rice and risotto, chickenliver and rice came up, I think it was Siduri who mentioned it. I then suggested to make a risotto and I posted a recipe as I would make it, but I never made it myself. Yesterday I found some nice chickenlivers and decided to make that recipe. So, I'm calling this recipe "Risotto Siduri", all in the spirit that asking for forgiveness is always easier than asking permission. So, Siduri, I almost expect you don't mind me giving your name to the dish, you inspired it.
Stock; I used chickenstock that I heated to just not boiling, added a piece of cooked beetroot chopped in small chunks, the stalks from the parcely I'm using later on, a sage leaf and since beetroot can be a little sweet, a good dash of fresh lemonjuice. Tasting helps as always to find the exact balance. After a while, remove the parcely and the sage, plunge the handmixer in and mix as finely as you can. Parcely and sage can go back in. You now have a delicious red stock.
Chickenliver; simply switch your mind to zen-mode and remove all things that shouldn't be there. Pour some icecold milk over them and let rest in your fridge for an hour or so; this eleminates any funky taste and more important, bloodresidu. Yep, it's liver...
Strain, dry and cut the liver in bitesize chunks. They are ready to panfry.
Risotto; sweat a chopped shallot in olive oil and a bit of butter. Add rice (I used arborio) and let it coat with oil until it gets very hot. Only then pour in some RED wine, yes, red wine this time. Stir gently and let the rice cook until the wine has disappeared. Then add the stock a ladle at a time, keep stirring the rice until each ladle of stock you add has gone. Repeat until the rice is as good as done. Add a bit of butter and a small hand of grated parmezan cheese and a small hand of very finely chopped parcely, season well. Stir well, cover and let rest.
Panfrying the livers; Put a bit of oil and butter in a very hot non-stick pan. Put the livers in quickly, one at a time (meaning; don't wack all the livers in the pan in one go). Do not touch them, a few pieces may literally "sauter" (=french for jump) in your pan. Let them in for a minute or so, then turn and do the same. Sprinkle with 2 sage leaves cut in very small bits. Pour a good dash of Madeira wine in and let reduce a bit, add a tbsp of very cold butter, this will make the jus a little thicker and stick to the meat.
You could use a not too sweet Marsala instead of Madeira, but the Madeira is fabulous in this!
Serve rice as shown with the livers on top. Fa-bu-lous earthy flavors, perfect for this time of the year!
In case you wonder; the 3 leaves on top are a kind of sorrel leaves. We call them "bloodsorrel" as translated from dutch.
The livers must be fried very briefly or they will have a grainy mouthfeel! They should stay a bit pink inside.
I wonder who would/would not eat this risotto, or simpler... do you like liver or not?
Another important question to the oenologes around here; what wine would you suggest to pair with this dish?
(Click picture to enlarge)
