Gizzard Chili

Gizzards again? Aw, man!

Yes, gizzards again. I keep thinking about how the taste of Mom's gizzards seems to mean home to residents of Africa, the Caribbean and the American south. They can't all be wrong. Mario Batali talks about the caviar crunch of gizzards. I, for one, remember not-so-patiently waiting for the giblets to simmer on turkey day. Then they would be sliced and eaten on crackers to tide us over until supper.

This recipe appears to be a method of using ground gizzards as a substitute for hamburger meat. I made the addition of a tablespoon ground coriander seed and a teaspoon of ground cumin. I imagine Tummy Tucker was using the sort of chili powder that contains additional spices.

Gizzard Chili

As usual this recipe is written as I cooked it;

2 1/4 cups dried small white beans (but any dried bean would work)
1 pound chicken gizzards
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon oil
1 16 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon coriander seed, ground
1 teaspoon cumin seed, ground
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Cook beans according to preferred method. Mine was to toss the beans in a soup pot with a couple of inches of water over them and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until done. Mine took about two hours. No, I didn't soak. Drain if desired. I did not.

Meanwhile simmer gizzards in salted water to cover until tender. I went about an hour. I have a picture of the gizzards simmering but it will do nothing to sell you on gizzards. Drain (reserve the stock) and grind. Finn helped with this process;

The result was not unlike very lean fried hamburger meat that tasted like gizzard.

Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. I went so far as to do it over high heat and saute until beginning to brown. Add ground gizzards and saute 5 minutes longer.

Add cooked beans (and juice), tomatoes (with their juice), chili powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne (and salt if necessary, it wasn't for me as the gizzards and beans were well seasoned). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for an additional 10 minutes, stirring frequently and adding reserved stock to thin when and if necessary. It really seems to want to burn at the bottom of the pan. I imagine all that lean protein was the culprit.

Serve immediately or age at the back of the stove for an hour or refrigerate until serving and reheat. It does indeed benefit from a little time for the flavors to meld.

And the flavor verdict? I thought it was delicious but I love gizzards and I knew there were gizzards in there. I think that would be a prerequisite for enjoying this dish. Perhaps most importantly, the whole dish cost about $3.50 for what would have fed a family of four but indeed fed me for 5 days of lunches.

Shrimp13