My Grammie Ethel was best known for her cookies and fudge. But she also made a mean chopped liver. What was remarkable about Grammie Ethel's chopped liver was how mild, light and fluffy it was—it didn't taste too much like liver. (This is important when you're eight years old and a finicky eater.) Her secret was the high proportion of hard-boiled egg whites to liver. And the hand-cranked metal meat grinder my grandmother used her whole life to grind the ingredients into a chunky purée. Low-fat chopped liver might seem like an oxymoron. After all, liver is one of the fattiest and most cholesterol-laden substances known to man. By replacing most of the liver with mushrooms (keeping just enough liver for flavor) and by roasting the ingredients in a hot oven instead of sautéeing them, we create a chopped liver that explodes with flavor and is mercifully light on fat. I'm sure my grandmother would have approved. Note: To be in strict accordance with the kashrut, you would boil, not roast, the chicken liver. (This is considered a more effective way to remove the blood.)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 1 1/2 cups, serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Trim the stem ends off the mushrooms and wipe the caps clean with a damp paper towl. Quarter any large mushrooms; halve medium size ones; leave any small mushrooms whole. Place the mushrooms and onion in a nonstick roasting pan and toss with the oil, salt, and pepper. Roast the mushrooms until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring to insure even cooking.
Step 2
2. Add the livers and continue roasting until the mushrooms are well browned and flavorful and the liver is cooked but still pink in the center, 8 to 10 minutes more.
Step 3
3. Meanwhile, hard-cook the eggs for 11 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and halve the eggs. Remove and discard the yolks. Cut each white in half.
Step 4
4. Place the mushrooms, onion, liver, hard-cooked egg whites, and parsley in a food processor and grind to a coarse purée. (Run the machine in short bursts.) Correct the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste: the mixture should be highly seasoned. Transfer the chopped liver to a bowl or platter, garnish with parsley sprigs, and serve with crackers or toasted challah.
Step 5
Note: For a richer chop liver, keep two of the egg yolks. The fat level will still be below 4 g per servings.
