Chicken Liver Frisée Salad and Poached Egg

Chicken liver, bacon and eggs? This dish recalls a time when people indulged in kidney, tripe, and the likes and didn’t worry about healthy issues. Since George loves chicken liver, I decided to throw dietary worries to the wind and went full steam ahead. The result was most gratifying.


Menu

Heirloom Tomatoes with Mozzarella
Chicken Liver Salad
Wine: Riondo Garza Argento Rosé
Dessert: Chocolate Yogurt

I adapted the recipe from Chef Bruno Davaillon’s Chicken Liver Salad that appeared recently in the Wine Spectator.


Prep Vinaigrette

1 small frisée, cleaned and torn into pieces
1 small shallot, minced
2 teaspoons Pommery mustard
1 teaspoon red wine or sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 slices bacon, cut into ¼-inch pieces


Combine shallots, mustard, vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper in
a bowl.
Sauté bacon until crisp and the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon, dry
with paper towel and toss into the vinaigrette. Divide frisée among two plates.

Cook Chicken Livers

½ pound chicken livers, cleaned and patted dry
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs
Chopped chives for garnish
Pinch of fleur de sel

Season chicken livers with salt and pepper
Heat butter in a sauté pan, add chicken livers and cook for one minute on each side. Remove and keep warm.

Bring water to a boil and add a few drops of vinegar. Poach eggs for about 3 minutes. Top over the frisée salad. Arrange the chicken livers around the eggs. Finish with fleur de sel and chopped chives.

The dish was an intriguing combination between the macho vinaigrette and the simple cooked chicken liver. Unfortunately I still haven’t mastered the technique of poaching eggs: at best, these looked messy. The young and lively, vino frizzante Rosé from the Veneto pulled the meal nicely together.