Directions: |
Directions:Cut each chicken liver in half. Cut the bacon slices in thirds, and wrap the bacon around the liver. Insert toothpick. Place wrapped and skewed chicken livers on broiler pan or rack with a pan underneath to catch the grease drippings. These can be cooked one of two ways: 1) (The way my mother cooked them): Broil the livers on the highest oven rack for 3-5 minutes, turn them over and cook them another 3-5 minutes until the bacon is evenly browned and crisp. 2) Bake the livers in a 375° oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Place cooked livers on paper towel before placing them on serving platter. Leave toothpick in for handle.
If the idea of eating chicken livers is an absolute NO, you can substitute any of the following, or perhaps come up with you own idea: scallops, smoked oysters, stuffed green olives, whole water chestnuts or pineapple chunks. There are quite a few variations to this recipe and if you are looking for something a little healthier these might be for you. (If eating chicken livers AND bacon is an absolute NO – you quit reading this information a long time ago!) |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: The longer I do this column, the more I begin to wonder, “where have I been?” And even though my hair gets grayer in color every day, in my younger days it was blonde, very blonde, if you catch my meaning. Gray… blonde… it’s all the same, those moments when we just blank out and don’t know what anybody is saying or doing. The younger generation calls it a “blonde moment.” My generation is going to have to change it to a “gray moment” (or as we get older – gray minutes, hours, days, and sometimes months).
Rumaki! This is a term I have heard before but never really thought about it. Don’t even have a clue as to where I have heard the term before! Who would have ever thought that my mom was making rumaki!?!
Way back when, each Christmas my mother and father would attend a Christmas Party/Dance with their friends and mom would always, always, always make her delightful chicken livers wrapped in bacon recipe. Each year, it was difficult, at best, for her to get out of the house with any left on her serving platter. I don’t remember my brothers wanting these appetizers, but dad and I used to fight over them (not literally of course, but you know).
Maybe mom told me that the true recipe name for the chicken livers wrapped in bacon was Rumaki – but until I typed in chicken livers wrapped in bacon did I put two and two together. Ohhhhhh, now you see what I mean by the “blonde/gray moment.”
Rumaki is an hors d'oeuvre recipe of Hawaiian (with Chinese roots and a Japanese name) origin. Its ingredients and method of preparation vary, but usually it consists of water chestnuts and pieces of chicken liver wrapped in bacon and marinated in soy sauce and either ginger or brown sugar. A classic party appetizer that proves anything wrapped in bacon tastes good – even liver.
Okay, so may I should have told you from the start of the column today that this was not going to be a “healthy” recipe column day. In fact if you are looking for a healthy recipe today, you can stop reading now. I mean it, anything that tastes this good is going to be horrible for you. The only good information I can give you about chicken livers is that they are a GREAT source of protein and iron. Those of you who are anemic or lacking energy due to low iron levels need to eat chicken livers or better yet, green leafy vegetables. Of course, we can’t leave out that bacon is involved in this recipe either. What is bacon except fat? But since it is Christmas, and we are not going to be cooking these every week, well what the hay! Let’s go for it! Rumaki here we come!
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This recipe for My Gray (Blonde) Moment with Rumaki is from