Shared by Adeena Sussman
Chopped Liver Toasts with Gribenes & Schmaltz
Yield: 2 ½ cups crispy chicken skins, 1 cup schmaltz, and 3 cups chopped liverTime: 1 hourWhenever I need an extra reminder of my delicious family roots, I make my Grandma Mildred Sussman’s chopped liver, gribenes, and schmaltz, says cookbook author Adeena Sussman, whose childhood visits to her Kew Garden Hills, New York home inspired this recipe. Whenever she visited, Mildred would prepare a heimishe (homestyle) tableau of rendered chicken fat and crispy chicken skins alongside slices of plush rye bread or challah. If it was a Sunday or Monday, there might be leftover chopped liver she’d made for Shabbat—the livers and onions fried in the schmaltz, hand-chopped together with hard-boiled eggs to rustic perfection, lavished on fresh bread and topped with crispy gribenes. To make this yourself, ask your butcher to set aside chicken skins for you- or save yours at home, freezing as you accumulate them.
Read more about Adeena Sussman's family history here, and try her recipes for blintzes with sweet farmers cheese or potato filling and triple ginger persimmon loaf.
Reprinted with permission from SHABBAT by Adeena Sussman, published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright @ 2023 by Adeena Sussman
Family Journey
Ingredients
For the gribenes & schmaltz:
- 2 pounds chicken skins
- Kosher salt
For the chopped liver:
- 8 tablespoons Schmaltz, melted if solidified, or vegetable oil
- 1 3/4 pounds chicken livers, cleaned
- *2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced (6 1/2 to 7 cups)
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
Preparation
Step 1
Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Rinse the chicken skins, pat them dry, and chop them into 1-inch pieces with a very sharp knife. Arrange them in the largest skillet you have, turn the heat to medium, and cook the skins, stirring more frequently as they begin to brown and lowering the heat if necessary, until the fat renders and the skins are deep golden and crisp, 40 to 45 minutes.
Step 2
Lift the skins out of the fat with a spider or slotted spoon, letting any extra fat drip into the pan; drain on the paper towel–lined sheet. Season the skins with salt. Store the gribenes in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, and refrigerate the schmaltz in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Step 3
If using a skillet larger than 10 inches in diameter, heat 6 tablespoons of the schmaltz over medium-high heat in the skillet; if not, work in two batches, using half the livers and 3 tablespoons of the schmaltz per batch. Season the livers with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper and cook until they are browned on the outside and just barely blushing pink on the inside, 3 minutes per side.
Step 4
Remove the livers to a plate, leaving any oil and juices in the pan, then add the onions, raise the heat to high, and cook, stirring, until the onions are charred and softened, 13 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and chop (somewhere between roughly and finely) the livers, then the onions, then the eggs.
Step 5
Transfer everything to a bowl, add the remaining 2 tablespoons schmaltz, stir gently to combine, and season with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Serve with challah and top with gribenes. Chopped liver can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 4 days.
*To clean the livers, pull out any stringy parts; this is not fun work, but it will result in the smoothest and most delicious experience.
