Have you had any Chicken Livers lately?

[shelley]

The other day I made a variation of cajun Dirty Rice, one of my favorite meals, and it occurred to me that perhaps my readers never eat chicken livers. Except for some areas in the midwest where you can get them alongside your fried chicken (the deep-fried version is a kind of a cheat with benefits), most of us totally ignore chicken liver as "yuck!"

But you know what? They're not yuck! They're a nice change from the other proteins - rich, interesting smooth texture, and loaded with essential minerals like copper and chromium, which regulate hormones, blood sugar, feed the blood, etc. I advise everyone to eat some kind of liver at least once a month, preferably every 10 days. You can buy pate at Trader Joe's or fix some Dirty Rice or fix calves liver - recipe in the FAQ.
On the days you eat liver, don't bother taking cod liver oil, liver is very rich in A.

Since liver is a cleansing organ, you should thoroughly rinse it before you eat it. The best way to rinse it is to soak it for 2 hours preferably in an acid solution. You can use water with lemon juice added, just a tablespoon will do ya, or you can use milk because milk has lactic aid in it. Milk tends to change the flavor of the liver the least. Since you'll be rinsing it out candida people can use it.

Cajun Dirty Rice is actually very candida friendly. It gives you nice steady energy, fills you up, and is quite pungent so that the rice won't feed the yeasties. Just buy a carton of chicken livers, soak them, and get to cooking! All you need is one large saute pan or Wok type pan.

When you soak the chicken livers, go ahead and use your kitchen scissors to cut them into small pieces. They'll fall apart even further as you cook them, and that's what you want. The cartons usually contain between half a pound to a pound. Use your finest seive to drain the livers after they've soaked. I don't ever use a colandar, I use a real seive, like a wire mesh.

Real dirty rice also includes pork sausage. If you can find good pork sausage that doesn't have a lot of nitrites or nitrates, then by all means throw in half a pound to a pound. If it's spicy, like chorizo, then reduce the spices in the recipe so it's not toooooo hot.

Ingredients:

Chicken livers (see above)
Any other beef/pork sausage, preferably ground, that needs to get cooked (optional)
Basmati or Jasmine rice cooked in low-sodium Chicken Broth preferably. Plain will do too but it's not as flavorful. About 2-3 cups cooked.
1 med to small onion, chopped fine.
About 1/2 cup of celery and green bell pepper, chopped fine.
1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper
sea salt to taste (shouldn't need much if you used broth to cook the rice)
2 tsps to 1 tablespoon Emeril's Essence (it's mostly paprika, pepper, thyme, etc.)
2 bay leaves (optional)
Worstershire Sauce (optional, I add it to most meats for meatier flavor)
Olive Oil or other for sauteing, or butter

Heat large saute pan on medium heat, oiling it a bit.
Sweat the onions, then add meats and bay leaf, cook until livers are nearly cooked thru (not as red).
add seasoning, bay leaves, sauce. Taste to check level of heat, you want it to be somewhat hot but still comfortable enough to eat a lot. AT this point it can be very hot because the rice will dilute it.
Reduce heat and add garlic, sweat it a little and add the rest of the veggies. When they're to desired tenderness, add the cooked rice and mix well, cooking just until heated through. Serve immediately.
Can garnish with parsley.

Enjoy!