Chicken Gizzards...

[giggler]

Do Y'all cook with these?
They are cheap, and if you stew them, they are very good.
You can fry them , but they are very tough.
if you simply stew them for 2hrs. they get soft.
I put them in Spagheti sauce!
apperently , Carusso"s favorite dish, from an old German cookbook my Mom gave me...
Eric, Austin Tx.

 

[Aunt Bea]

If you have a meat grinder you can grind them along with a couple of bell peppers, onions and celery. Season with salt pepper and Bell's poultry seasoning. Cook on top of the stove until the mixture is no longer pink and then add a cup or two of water or chicken stock. Cover and put into a 325 oven for an hour and a half to two hours, until the liquid is almost gone. The secret is the low slow cooking to break down and dissolve the connective tissue.

This mixture is great piled into a hoagie roll and splashed with some hot sauce. I first had this years ago at a local clam bake. It was one of the most popular items.

I suppose instead of a roll you could use taco shells and make gizzard tacos!

 

[Andy M.]

I've made deli-style chopped liver for sandwiches and snacks. That's about it except for cooking the livers that come with a whole chicken.

 

[caseydog]

I've made deli-style chopped liver for sandwiches and snacks. That's about it except for cooking the livers that come with a whole chicken.

I've heard a lot of jokes about chopped liver, but never have eaten it. Not sure I want to, except to perhaps understand the jokes.

CD

 

[Andy M.]

It's just a combo of eggs, onion, liver and S&P. (some chicken fat too to be authentic). It's finally ground into spread. It is/was a Jewish deli staple. IF you like chicken livers, its's worth a try.

 

[Andy M.]

Ooops. Here we are talking about chicken livers in a thread about gizzards. Sorry.

When mom cooked chickens or turkeys, my sister and I fought over the gizzard. If I'm making a stock, I'll fish out the gizzards for a snack.

 

[pepperhead212]

I've made a 1,2,3,4,5 gizzard/heart mix - a Chinese recipe, that's a sweet and sour combo, that I add some 5 spice powder to, for an even better flavor. It was based on a recipe for chopped up spareribs, and both of these things are favorites of friends of mine. And the best way to cook them I've found is pressure cooking them, but even this takes over an hour, to get tender. And a favorite dish of chicken livers is one I got from a book of Diana Kennedy's - The Art Of Mexican Cooking - Chicken Livers In Chipotle Sauce. It's a simple tomato based Mexican style sauce, blended smooth with canned chipotles and some garlic, but I always add some dried chipotle or morita with it. I have also cooked some pork liver in this sauce, which cooks longer, but makes great tacos. Never made the gizzards in this, but I've considered it, and probably will try it. I haven't made it for years, but a there's a chicken liver paté, with some duxélles and some cognac in it, and finishing off with 4 oz each of butter and cream cheese, when ground up. Fantastic on some homemade rye bread!

 

[dragnlaw]

I know my mom used the liver, heart, gizzard but have no idea how. Nor do I remember specifically eating them. If she served them to us they were 'hidden' inside something.
But I distinctly remember her saving them.

Our birds came pretty much whole, well the head was gone. I can remember fighting over who got those feet to play with (not eat!).
We pull on the tendons to open and shut them, and then chase each other with clawed feet extended.
Great fun for about 20 minutes or so, then she'd take them away from us. LOL!

 

[taxlady]

I almost never see them unless they are inside a whole chicken and they are usually MIA from any whole chickens I buy.

 

[larry_stewart]

We used to frequent a farmers market outside of Philadelphia when I lived down there. This one stand had gizzards. Not sure how they were prepared, but every time we went there, there was a line 20 - 30 people deep waiting to get their hands on a serving. One time they, must have ran out, so there was a sign on the counter saying " Sorry, no more gizzards". The look of disappointment of the people walking by was evident. Guess they must have really tasted good.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Chicken livers and gizzards are what makes dirty rice, dirty.

 

[Aunt Bea]

 

[Linda0818]

Love chicken livers, but can't do the gizzards. I've tried them a couple of times, but they're just not for me.

I enjoy chopped liver but have never made it myself. Will have to do that sometime.

 

[pepperhead212]

I almost never see them unless they are inside a whole chicken and they are usually MIA from any whole chickens I buy.

OMG! If I got a whole chicken, and the innards were not in'em, I'd have to return it as incomplete.

 

[Linda0818]

I've noticed that the gizzards are not included in whole chickens anymore. Disappointing, because I love cooking up the livers. Once in a while I get lucky and they are included. But it's not always ALL of them. My last chicken, for example, had a small piece of the liver. Don't know what happened to the rest of it, lol.

The gizzards gone missing doesn't really bother me now, since I always cooked them up for my dog and he passed away last December. If there are gizzards included, they end up in the trash. But I will cook and eat the livers, if they're present.

 

[Andy M.]

I like to buy whole chickens (in the 4.5 lb-5.0 lb range) on sale. They never have any of loose parts included. We used to see heart, gizzard and liver included.

 

[Linda0818]

I like to buy whole chickens (in the 4.5 lb-5.0 lb range) on sale. They never have any of loose parts included. We used to see heart, gizzard and liver included.

More often than not, that's my experience as well. Not sure why. But I've noticed at one of the stores I shop they sell packages of gizzards only. So it looks like the gizzards are being sold separately now rather than left inside the bird.

 

[dragnlaw]

"Back in the day" - They also had to start putting warnings on the outside to "Remove bag of heart, liver, gizzard before cooking."
LOL

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Where can I buy Asian chickens locally?

 

[HeyItsSara]

i rarely even get wings and necks when i get a whole chicken. they are sold as pieces.