The other day I found myself getting a little nostalgic. I don’t know what brought it on but for some reason I was thinking about my favorite all you can eat buffet type restaurant over in Corvallis, Oregon. I used to cut meat at one of the supermarkets there and I would often find myself bellying up to the buffet at lunch time filling my plate with a myriad of interesting and tasty if sometimes indistinguishable dishes.
That’s what I loved about the place. There were always a number of items on the steam line that kept you guessing. I would take some of this and a dollop of that until my plate was filled to overflowing. Then I would grab a glass of chocolate milk add some ice cream from the soft ice cream dispenser and a couple of squirts of chocolate syrup and stir the whole thing up for a delicious chocolate milkshake which would help wash everything down. Some days those chocolate milkshakes were worth their weight in gold.
Each day of the week had a theme. One day was oriental day with rice with sweet and sour meat chunks. The next day would be western day with hot dogs and pot roast and so on. Every day however they would serve fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, baked beans and mashed potatoes with two types of gravy, white and or brown and or yellow. My favorite day was Thursday. Thursday was a combined day of Mexican and Italian.
Most every Thursday I would be there bright and early to be one of the first in line for lunch , so as to get the unviolated good stuff. I would load up on the enchiladas, mock lasagna, baked beans, macaroni and cheese and fried chicken livers. I guess they thought that braised chicken livers and onions were Italian or Mexican. Maybe they are. All I know is that they went very nicely with the yellow gravy they always served on Thursday and of course the baked beans and macaroni and cheese, that I smothered it all with, accented it nicely.
With longings of a day that has come and gone I grabbed a couple containers of chicken livers at work the other day and brought them home in hopes of capturing something special from my past and sharing it with my family.
First thing I did was drain one 20oz container of chicken livers and then flour them up. I used flour seasoned with the basics; garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Then I melted a half cube of butter in a large skillet and added the livers with one medium sliced onion and 3 sliced celery stalks. I slowly cooked the whole mess on medium heat, covered, stirring and flipping occasionally Once the liver was cooked through (about 20 minutes) I removed and served with mashed potatoes and cream of chicken soup from a can, which I doctored up somewhat and used as a chicken gravy. The trick to using the cream of chicken soup for gravy is to remember to go easy on the milk when you reconstitute it or it will get runny. I add about a half can of full strength evaporated milk to each can of soup. Serve the gravy over the livers. Then I warmed up some French cut green beans and there you have it, a simple and inexpensive meal.
The chicken livers are a great value. My store sells them for $1.49 for a 20oz container. Top that off with the fact that only one third of our family would even go near them and the savings were greatly multiplied.
Actually the members of our family that were either young enough not to know better or adventuresome enough to try the braised chicken liver and onions ended up enjoying them. Some people, I know, have some kind of aversion to slimy goopy things but if you give them a try you just might like them.
Personally I loved them. I just wish I would have taken the time to fix up some good old fashioned baked beans and macaroni and cheese.