Stewed Chicken and Liver

1 pound chicken liver

2 cups milk

2 cups gluten-free flour (any blend)

1 teaspoon piment d’Espelette

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

6 chicken thighs

1 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons teff flour

2 medium onions, julienned

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 quart chicken stock

The day before you want to cook, gently stir the milk into the livers without breaking the livers. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to two days.

When you’re ready to cook, drain the livers.

Combine the flour, Espelette pepper, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Dredge the chicken and livers in the seasoned flour, but don’t discard the seasoned flour.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once it’s hot, place the chicken in the oil skin side down. Once it’s nicely browned, about 6 or 7 minutes, turn the chicken, and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oil; it’s ok if the chicken is not thoroughly cooked. Repeat this process for the rest of the chicken, if necessary, and for the livers. The only difference is that you should only cook the livers for a minute or two on each side.

Add about 1/4 cup of the reserved seasoned flour and the teff flour. Stir constantly until your roux is a little darker than peanut butter, about 7 minutes. It’s fine if there are dark bits of batter left over from frying the chicken.

Once the roux has reached the desired color, add the onions and stir well. Adding the onions will stop the roux from cooking and it won’t get any darker. Cook the onions for about 7 minutes, until they soften, stirring often. Add the garlic and stir constantly. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, which takes less than a minute, add the stock. Stir well.

Bring the mixture up to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it’s boiling, add the chicken and any juices that may have collected. After it comes up to a boil again, stir, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Let it simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom. Gently add the livers and stir, as to not break up the livers. Raise the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Once the mixture comes up to a boil, stir gently, and cover. Let the pot simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the skin just starts to separate from the chicken.

Serve with rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes.

Notes: If you don’t like liver, you can certainly omit it. The stewed chicken will still taste great, but I won’t trust you.

If the skin happens to fall off of the chicken before it's served, then that's just a little lagniappe for the chef!