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Herb Butter Rice with Sauteed Chicken Livers & Braised Baby Onions

Liver and onions used to be a widely-known and popular dish to cook at home. This recipe takes some of the flavors from this out-of-favor classic dish, and adds a few modern twists to arrive at an incredible dinner entrée.

Ingredients

For the Chicken Livers:

  • 16oz chicken livers
  • 3 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp sherry liquor
  • 4 thyme sprigs, leaves picked from stems
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp sherry vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves, finely sliced, as garnish

For the Braised Baby Onions:

  • 6 small yellow onions, peeled and left whole
  • 2-3 cups chicken stock, or enough to cover onions at least halfway in the pot
  • 4 thyme sprigs, left whole
  • 2 rosemary sprigs, left whole
  • Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

For the Herb Butter Rice:

  • 1 large or 2 small shallots, finely minced
  • 2 Tbsp salted butter, softened
  • 1 cup long-grain rice, like basmati, rinsed under cold water for 5 minutes and drained
  • 1.5 cups reduced chicken stock, reserved from what you used to cook the onions
  • *If you prefer an even drier finished rice component to this dish, try using 1.25 cups of stock instead of 1.5 cups.
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • ½ cup fresh parsley leaves, finely sliced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh tarragon or fresh mint leaves, finely sliced

Instructions 

The Day Before Cooking the Chicken Livers:

  • One day in advance of when you want to cook the chicken livers, rinse the livers under cold water, and dry them completely on paper towels.
  • Sprinkle the livers with the 3 tsp of kosher salt.
  • In a bowl, combine the salted livers with the 2 tsp sherry liquor and the leaves from 4 thyme sprigs.
  • *Try to evenly distribute the sherry and thyme with the salted livers.
  • Allow chicken livers to rest in the fridge overnight, until you are ready to cook them.

For the Braised Baby Onions:

  • Peel your 6 small yellow onions, leaving the onions whole.
  • Add the whole, peeled onions to the bottom of a medium-sized soup pot, and cover halfway with chicken stock.
  • Add the thyme and rosemary sprigs, and cover with a lid.
  • Increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a gentle simmer.
  • Reduce heat to low, and gently cook the onions on low heat for roughly 60-90 minutes, or until the onions are completely tender in the center.
  • When the onions are fully cooked, lightly season the liquid and onions with kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper.
  • *Avoid over-salting the braising liquid here, as this liquid will be used later to cook your herb butter rice.
  • Carefully remove the whole onions from the cooking liquid, and reserve the cooking liquid for making the herb butter rice.
  • Set the cooked onions aside on a warm plate for when you are ready to assemble the dish, covered with plastic wrap.

For the Herb Butter Rice:

  • Finely mince the shallots, and add them to the bottom of your small rice-cooking pot with the 2 Tbsp of softened, salted butter.
  • Increase the heat to medium, and cook the shallots until they are translucent, or roughly 4 minutes.
  • Add about 1.5 cups of the reduced chicken stock from earlier, and bring the liquid with the shallots to a simmer.
  • *If you prefer an even drier finished rice component in this dish, try using 1.25 cups of stock instead of 1.5 cups.
  • Add the 1 cup of drained and rinsed rice, and stir once to combine.
  • Reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
  • When the liquid with the rice is steaming, quickly cover the mixture with a lid or a layer or two of aluminum foil, and allow the mixture to steam on low heat for 15 minutes, untouched.
  • When the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, remove from the heat and carefully remove the lid or aluminum foil.
  • Carefully stir in the finely-sliced herbs, using a fork to gently fluff the rice grains while incorporating the sliced fresh herbs.
  • When the rice is gently fluffed and the herbs are incorporated, tightly cover the pot again with the lid or aluminum foil until you are ready to serve.

When You Are Ready to Cook the Chicken Livers:

  • When the braised onions & rice are cooked, you are ready to quickly saute your chicken livers.
  • Dry the chicken livers on paper towels until they are as dry as you can get them.
  • Add 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to a large saute pan, and increase the heat to high.
  • When the butter and oil are melted and very hot, quickly add the chicken livers.
  • Saute on high heat, stirring occasionally, until the livers are cooked to rare to medium-rare on the insides, or roughly 3-4 minutes.
  • Quickly add 2 tsp of sherry vinegar to the chicken livers and shake the pan to incorporate.
  • *Cook the livers according to your preference here, although they tend to get very dry and unpleasant to eat when overcooked.
  • When cooked, remove the chicken livers from the pan, and allow them to rest off the heat for roughly 2 minutes.
  • Prepare plates with the herb butter rice on the bottom, served with the whole braised baby onions and sauteed chicken livers on top.
  • Garnish with some remaining freshly-sliced parsley, and serve.

Notes

The sauteed chicken livers will taste better when eaten right after they are first cooked. But you can always serve leftovers of this dish.