Kitchen

[StylishLady]

I just cook up the livers for my cat--she loves them---

Had a cat that would kill for the liver when I would do up a chicken or turkey. Funny reminder of that--thanks.

[RedTop]

I love any kind of liver; fried crispy on the outside, steamed pink and hot on the inside, with a lot of onions.

[sunshine45]

i cannot stand liver.....any liver, but i DO like it when i am simmering the neck, gizzard, liver, and all of the insides of the turkey and/or chicken. i simmer it all with some onion, celery, celery leaves, salt/pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a spoonful of better than bouillon. it makes a wonderful broth to use to baste the turkey OR to add to the gravy (along with the drippings) OR to use for your stock/soup.

i would think you might be able to go to a butcher to see if he can get you just the turkey livers.

[Campion]

On 12/21/2014 Sooner said:

Card-carrying liver lover here! I just had three chicken livers I cooked in a little pan. I also love calves liver and onions. GREAT stuff! I am making broth today and always think the livers are the cook's treat.

My late husband was also not a liver-lover. I grew up on it (Mom would make calves liver, or chicken livers all the time and we kids loved it.) When I'd cook myself liver and onions, he'd say how good it smelled, he'd have a small bite but he just couldn't get to like it. If you soak it in milk, it takes away that funny taste people don't admire.

Strangely though, he would eat venison liver when he went hunting with his guy friends. He liked that.

I find turkey livers have less of that funny taste. I also used to make Japanese style baby beef liver--which is done soaked first, then with teriyaki sauce and it has tons of ginger. This masks that organ meat taste most people find off-putting. I think you have to grow up on it.

[PamelaSue72]

On 12/21/2014 RedTop said: I love any kind of liver; fried crispy on the outside, steamed pink and hot on the inside, with a lot of onions.

Liver and onions was always my request for my birthday dinner. Same with my sister. Now that our mother is gone, I make it for us. I dearly love liver and onions.

I also enjoy Dirty Rice from time to time, made with chicken livers.

The liver and heart from the Thanksgiving turkey is always for the cook. Unless my sister is around, then we have to slice them in half and share them.

[debic]

On 12/21/2014 Poodlepet2 said: Zhills and Debc, excellent idea! I grew up eating pork: there's nothing like a pot of beans or greens with a smoked ham hock. Alas, DH won't eat pork, and I really miss that flavor. Smoked turkey necks and wings would solve that problem, an they are widely available here. My question is, do you put the neck in cheesecloth when cooking it? Thanks, Poodlepet2

I never have. My friend orders turkey wings in bulk this time of year and eats them throughout the year.

[debic]

On 12/22/2014 Campion said:

On 12/21/2014 Sooner said:

Card-carrying liver lover here! I just had three chicken livers I cooked in a little pan. I also love calves liver and onions. GREAT stuff! I am making broth today and always think the livers are the cook's treat.

My late husband was also not a liver-lover. I grew up on it (Mom would make calves liver, or chicken livers all the time and we kids loved it.) When I'd cook myself liver and onions, he'd say how good it smelled, he'd have a small bite but he just couldn't get to like it. If you soak it in milk, it takes away that funny taste people don't admire.

Strangely though, he would eat venison liver when he went hunting with his guy friends. He liked that.

I find turkey livers have less of that funny taste. I also used to make Japanese style baby beef liver--which is done soaked first, then with teriyaki sauce and it has tons of ginger. This masks that organ meat taste most people find off-putting. I think you have to grow up on it.

A lot of people soak liver in buttermilk to get rid of that taste. I don't so I have no idea if it works. LOL, it's the texture that my husband hates. Same reason he won't eat canned peas. He'll start gagging almost immediately.

[mousiegirl]

I eat it all, liver, heart, and giblets, my favorite being the heart.

[vabreeze]

On 12/21/2014 Campion said:

On 12/21/2014 Poodlepet2 said: I love liver, but the only time I have had turkey liver was in Gilbert gravy. Here in Florida there are privately owned grocery stores and butcher's that sell them.....that being said, people go gondola over smoked turkey necks. That, my friend, I don't understand....lots of little bones, very little meat- what the draw is, I don't know. I would check with an independently owned butcher. Poodlepet2

I don't get the neck love either. Too many bones. Thanks for the recipes--and the advice on the butcher.

As Zhills said, they season green beans and collatds well. I previously only used smoked turkey wings as my seasoning meat of choice along with onions for these veggies until the day my grocer was out of the wings but had the smoked necks. Surprisingly, they really have quite a bit of meat and are incredibly tender and tasty. For me, it could be the protein component of a meal. I have no problem eating/separating them from the bones. They are definitely not an item for fine dining but in the privacy of your home, pick them up ith your fingers as you would fried chix or fried fish-- at least, I do! Once you have tasted smoked neck bones, you will never ponder what is their attraction for some people!! lol. One day, I plan to try them with rice.