Gourmet Foods

• ¾ lb. Tagliarini (narrow noodles)
• ¾ lb. chicken livers
• 4 tbs. olive oil
• ½ cup grated Incanestrato cheese
• 1 large can tomatoes
• 1 cup cooked or canned peas
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Chop livers; brown in hot oil. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and tomatoes. Cover; simmer slowly for 40 minutes. Add peas; simmer for 20 minutes longer.

Cook noodles in rapidly boiling salted water, as usual. When tender, drain; arrange on heated platter and pour hot sauce over them. Sprinkle with grated Incanestrato cheese.

Serve very hot. Serves 4.

• 1 pound chicken livers
• 4 tablespoons rendered chicken fat
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 hard-boiled egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Wash the livers and remove any discoloured spots. Drain.

Heat 2 tablespoons fat in a frying pan; brown the onions in it. Remove the onions. Cook the livers in the fat remaining in the skillet for 10 minutes. You can grind or chop the onions, livers and egg yolks, but be sure you have a smooth texture. Add the salt, and pepper and remaining fat. Mix and taste for seasoning.

Serve cold with crackers as a spread or on lettuce. Serves 6 as an appetizer or 12 as a spread.

Served hot, this chicken liver custard is delicious as a first course or as the mainstay for luncheon. It is attractive cold, as a light chicken liver pate for cocktails or the cold buffet table.

• 1 pound chicken livers (about 2 cups)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup thick white sauce (1 ½ tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 cup milk)
• Optional: 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons cognac

Pick over chicken livers, cutting out any filaments and black or greenish spots. Place them in a jar of an electric blender with eggs, egg yolks, salt, and pepper, and blend for 1 minute. Add the white sauce and the cognac blend for 15 seconds more, and strain through a sieve into a bowl. (Or puree chicken livers through a food grinder into a bowl, beat in the rest of the ingredients, and push through a sieve.)

Baking and Serving:

• A 4 cup baking dish 2 ½ to 3 inches deep, or 8 half cup ramekins or custard cups
• 1 tablespoon softened butter

A pan of boiling water to hold baking dish or ramekins

2 cups cream sauce flavoured with 1 teaspoon tomato paste and tarragon or parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Smear a light film of butter inside baking dish or ramekins and fill to within 1/8 inch of the top with the liver mixture. When ready to bake, set in pan of boiling water, then place in middle level of preheated oven. Regulate water in pan so it is almost but not quite simmering. The timbale is done when it shows a very faint line of shrinkage from dish, and when a knife plunged into the center comes out clean. Allow about 30 minutes in the oven for a timbale made in a baking dish; about 20, if you use ramekins. (If not served immediately, leave in a pan of water in turned off oven, with door ajar-or reheat if necessary.)

To unmold timbale made in baking dish, allow to settle for 5 minutes if you have just finished baking then run a knife around edge of timbale. Turn a lightly buttered hot serving dish upside down over mold, then reverse the two, giving a sharp downward jerk, and timbale will fall into place. To unmold ramekins, run a knife around the edge of each one, and unmold onto hot plates or a platter, giving a sharp downward jerk for each just at the end.

Pour sauce over and around the timbale or ramekins, and serve immediately, passing the rest of the sauce in a warmed bowl.

Timbales are best as a separate course, with hot French bread and a chilled white Burgundy, Graves, or Traminer.

• 1 pound chicken livers (about 2 cups)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup flour in a plate
• A large sieve
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• A heavy 10 inch non-stick skillet

Optional, 1 cup diced boiled ham, previously sautéed in butter, and/or 1 cup quartered fresh mushrooms, previously sautéed in butter.

• ½ cup beef stock or bouillon
• 1/3 cup dry Scrcial Madeira
• 1 tablespoon soft butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley

Pick over the chicken livers; cut out any filaments and black or greenish spots (they are caused by the bile sack which rested on the liver just before cleaning). Dry on paper towels. Just before cooking, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, roll in flour, then shake in a sieve to remove any excess flour.

Melt the butter and oil in the skillet over medium high heat. When you see the butter foam begin to subside, add the chicken livers. Toss frequently for 3 to 4 minutes until livers are slightly browned; if they are done when just springy to the touch of your fingers. Do not overcook. Add optional sautéed ham and mushrooms pour in the stock and the wine, and simmer for 1 minute.

Taste and correct seasoning. (Set aside until later if you are not ready to serve.) Reheat just before serving, then remove from heat and toss with the soft butter and parsley.