If I had titled this “Rumaki” you may still not have known what I was posting about today but when I say chicken liver – I’m losing a bunch of you! Please try to bear with me because I do have something for you at the end, I promise. I’ve had a love affair with chicken liver for over 20 years. When I was about 25-years-old, I was tired of the “kind” of guy I was dating and so I began to pray (in earnest) for God to bring me a rich man. I had certain ideas about who and what a rich man was – one of my greatest lessons in life was not to pigeon-hole people and this man is how I learned that because he was nothing I expected.
I lived in Colorado not far from my boyfriend, when he took me to a “gathering” his family was hosting at their home in a place called Cherry Hills. I still remember smelling the mixture of floor wax and fresh flowers that met us in the foyer of the home. There were actually people dressed in black and white work uniforms carrying around little trays of appetizers and one of those appetizers was wrapped in bacon and oh-so delicious! When I asked the staff what they were, I was told they were called Angels on Horseback. My boyfriend laughed and told me it was really rumaki. Ummmm….‘K, still don’t know what it is!
Eventually, I got home and found out it was a water chestnut wrapped in chicken liver wrapped in bacon. Probably, if I had known that from the beginning I would not have tried it but since I had no idea, I just knew I loved it and really tried to eat my weight in those little babies.
With New Year’s Eve coming up, I thought it would be the perfect time to prepare and post about one of my favorite tidbits! If you haven’t tried it, you must and if you are just calling it “chicken livers” remember, rich people in Colorado call it “Angels on Horseback” – doesn’t that make it sound irresistible? Well – it does to me! Here’s the recipe:
Angels on Horseback
You will need these items:
1 ½ Cups Soy Sauce (or Teriyaki Sauce)
½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Pint of Chicken Livers with each liver cut in half
1 Can Water Chestnuts drained and cut in half
12 slices of bacon cut in half
Toothpicks soaking in water
1. Mix together the sauce of your choice, ginger, and garlic.
2. Add drained water chestnuts and drained chicken livers.
3. Cover and sit in fridge for at least 2 hours.
4. Place livers on paper towels and blot dry.
5. Place a water chestnut in the middle of the liver and wrap meat around the nut.
6. Take a piece of bacon and wrap it around the chicken liver and secure with a toothpick.
7. For those who do not love livers, wrap back around a whole water chestnut and secure with a toothpick.
8. Place hors d’oeuvres on a wire rack sitting on a baking sheet.
9. Cook in a preheated 350 F oven for between 30 – 40 minutes.
10. Serve hot. Mine is served with Bleu Cheese dressing.
**hey, if you are going all out – I say go ALL OUT**
When you go out to the store tomorrow to get ingredients for your New Year’s Eve soiree, don’t forget the Angels on Horseback/Rumaki/Chicken Livers!
I hope you have a wonderful New Years!
Im sure your recipe will be good, I really dont eat liver or bacon.. =)
There are plenty of folks in the family who don’t eat it either – actually I’m the only one who does! That’s why I’m making pizza for them!! both meaty and meatless!
I have always loved chicken liver – my mother always gave me this part of her fried chicken. I would really enjoy this appetizer.
Lillian
lillianscupboard.wordpress.com
Good! Another liver lover like me!
I feel so torn! I can’t stop drooling over that first picture but at the same time the thought of chicken liver makes me a little nauseated! I think I would have to try these in a similar way to you – not knowing what they are until after I had devoured the whole lot! 😀 xxx
That’s the way to do it, I swear! No one in my family eats it except me and truthfully, I had to make it yesterday while my husband was gone from the house because he can’t even stand the smell! 🙂
Haha! That’s so funny! At least when he is out you can satisfy your cravings – even if it is a bit of a strange craving 😀 xxx
That’s true! 🙂
Yes, you are correct. You would have lost me at chicken livers. To be quite honest, I am pretty positive I have never eaten one. I think the beef liver with onions of my youth ruined it for me. But, I will take your word for it and believe these are delicious.
(So, what happened to the guy with the house servants?)
You can always just wrap the water chestnuts in the bacon – that is great too! The guy with the servants? well, when I was a-prayin’ for a rich man, I forgot to say, “and if he wouldn’t have any serious addictions that would be great”! But, I got the rich man and his cocain/whiskey habit. However, I wasn’t that highly evolved so I thought I could save him for a while, then of course I couldn’t. so I left the state and moved home to Oklahoma. I heard from him about 8 years ago – he lives in Lake Havasu City. his family finally cut him off and he was just a shell of the beautiful blonde haired blue eyed dashing young man I once knew. But I have lots of fond memories and adventurous tales of my time with him!
I’m in! Love chicken livers but, actually, I am not so fond of water chestnuts so I will try it without. Where I come from, angels on horseback are smoked oysters wrapped in bacon and I adore them. So I think I am going to love these too!
Just reading through the comments and it sounds like you made a wise escape from that one, rumaki and servants aside. Totally not worth it since servants are overrated and you can make this lovely dish all on your own. And I am guessing you don’t even have to share with Mr. Picky Eater. Win-win!
Happy New Year to you all, Kelli!
Stacy XOXO
Your guess is correct! Mr. Picky eater – heck our little doggies won’t eat liver! 🙂 Yes, I wouldn’t trade my life now for that one – ever! But, I did get to go on lots and lots of great adventures when I was in my 20’s giving me some great stories to tell! Happy New Year to you as well my friend! xoxoxo
I actually hate chicken liver, but I think it would be hard to refuse something that looks like this. Maybe a bite of this would change my mind
I’m sure it would! They are really tasty! Thanks for dropping by and please come back often!
I love chicken livers and beef liver. They should never be over-cooked. When I make rumaki I just use store bought terikaki sauce to marinate. My Dad loved beef liver and so do I, but my Mom over cooked it until it was like shoe leather (gray, how do you make gray meat?, lol). There was a meat market where I used to live that would cut my beef liver 1 inch thick for me. The liver was delivered in a frozen block so I made sure to order the week before. I would grill it like a steak, medium rare, smothered with grilled onions and bacon, so tender! I know many people look at this meat as offal or cast off but there are many delicious recipes out there, such as breaded fried chicken livers or sauteed livers with mushrooms and white wine, let’s not leave out liver and onions! I think it is a matter of taste and texture. When making rumaki or fried chicken livers make sure you split them and cut off the fatty membrane then they’re good to go. Thank you Kelli (a fellow liver lover!) Can’t wait to try your recipe! — Nina
Hi Nina! I love the sound of your recipe – I like that your grill it like steak. I must try that. Thanks so much for stopping by and please come again!