Broiling

• Before cooking chicken livers, you should remove the thin outer membranes and any veins you see and dry the livers with a paper towel. Turn the broiler to high and cook the livers about 3 inches from the heat, for about 8 minutes turning them once. Overcooked livers toughen quickly, so cut into the livers to check doneness. They're best when cooked only long enough so their centers stay pink.

The Maillard Reaction

• With broiled chicken livers, your chopped liver spread will have a richer flavor than if you simmer the livers in water, an alternative cooking method. Through what is called the Maillard reaction, broiling produces browning. Browning actually produces new flavor compounds when the amino acids and sugars in foods are heated under high heat and form new molecules that result in the characteristic appearance and flavor of roasted, grilled and broiled meats.

Reducing Calories

• Because broiling adds so much more flavor to chopped chicken livers than cooking in water, you can cut back on rich ingredients without sacrificing flavor. For example, instead of using butter or the traditional strained chicken fat called schmaltz, use canola or olive oil. Instead of using both the yolk and white for the traditional chopped hard boiled egg, use only the whites. To bolster the chicken flavor of the livers even more, add a pinch of chicken bouillon to the mixture.

Variations

• Broiled chicken livers are so flavorful that you can add additional flavors to your spread or use the chopped livers for more unusual dishes without worrying that the liver flavor will be lost. Try adding cooked apples and Calvados apple brandy into the spread, top the spread with shredded beets and horseradish or stuff the chopped livers into artichoke hearts or mushroom caps. More elaborate dishes include roast chicken set on top of toast triangles spread with the livers.

Other Uses

• Chopped chicken livers as canapes taste great on bread toasts or crackers, but you can also spread it on vegetables, such as endive or cucumber slices, or stuff it into, chopped chicken livers cooked inside ravioli or a cream sauce for noodles made with chopped chicken livers and sauteed mushrooms.