Chicken Liver Gâteaux with Pickled Onions

French Friday with Dorie

I hate liver. I remember my parents loved liver and onions and when we would go on road trips when I was growing up my parents would most often than not order a serving of liver and onions at the diners we would stop at along the way. I would look at them in disbelief while eating my hamburger and french fries.

I especially cannot stand the smell of liver cooking, and hated it when my mom had a craving for liver and onions and fixed them at home. The smell would send me running. I guess it goes without saying that I have never fixed liver for my family. So when I saw this week's recipe, to me, the saving grace of it was that you blended all the ingredients in a blender and poured them into ramekins and cooked them in a water bath. I thought this method would probably not have the same smell as liver frying in a pan of oil. I made this recipe primarily because I thought John liked liver. I soon found out, however, that he likes beef liver and chicken liver does not taste like beef liver. Who knew?

Before I started the chicken liver gâteaux I made the pickled onions. I thought this would be good, but when John arrived home and opened the front door, the first thing he said was, "WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!" He said it smelled like really stinky gym socks. Oh, boy. This wasn't a good start at all. I had the onions cooling on the stove and quickly put them in a jar, sealed them, and put them in the fridge. I thought they would mellow out in the fridge while I started on the liver. 

The most difficult part of making this and it wasn't really difficult at all - it was just gross - was cleaning the fatty bits or whatever they were off of the liver before putting the liver into the blender. Add eggs, cream, some milk, a little bit of brandy and some freshly minced rosemary, sage, and thyme and you have a pretty fragrant dish. I poured the concoction into the ramekins, poured hot water into the pan and slid the pan into the oven. It was a good thing I peeked in on them at 25 minutes because they were already done.

I actually had high hopes for the gâteaux by this time because they didn't look bad and certainly smelled nice...I decided that we would try just one and served it on a bed of mixed greens with the pickled onions. Well, the onions hadn't mellowed in the fridge. They were so strong that John took one bite and said, "No." He then tried the liver and said, "uh..uh." I nibbled from the other side, and for me, it was more palatable to eat it with a little bit of onion along with a little bit of liver on the fork. Otherwise, the onions were too strong and the liver - even with all the accoutrements - was, well...still liver.

Believe it or not, I am glad that I made this, BUT, I won't be making it again. Once was enough. I am curious, though, to see what the rest of the group thought about it over at French Fridays with Dorie.