Chilli Con Chicken Liver Recipe

If you are not accustomed to eating organ meats but you want to benefit from its amazing nutrient content, this recipe is one to try.

Due to the strong smell and unusual taste and texture, if you haven’t been raised on organ meats (including myself!), you’ll find it really is an acquired taste, but I would never expect anyone, especially my clients, to force themselves to eat something they truly did not enjoy. Feeling pleasure and enjoyment is a crucial part of metabolism and digestion. A 1977 study found that the nutrient content of food is not the only factor in absorbing the nutrients optimally and pleasure (or vitamin P!) is important too:

“Researchers from Sweden and Thailand joined forces to determine how cultural preferences for food affects the absorption of iron from a meal. A group of women from each country was fed a typical Thai meal – rice, veggies, coconut, fish sauce and hot chili paste. As fate would have it, Thai women enjoy Thai food but Swedish women don’t. This proved to be a crucial metabolic fact, because, even though all the meals contained the exact same amount of iron, the Swedish women absorbed only half as much as the Thai women. To complete this phase of the study, both groups received a typical Swedish meal – hamburger, mashed potatoes, and string beans with the exact same iron content. Not surprisingly, the Thai Women absorbed significantly less iron from their Swedish meal.

Next, the Thai women were separated into two groups. One group received the aforementioned Thai meal and the other was given the same exact meal as well, but that meal was first placed in a blender and turned to mush. Just imagine your favorite evening meal all whipped together into baby food. Once again, the same results were seen for their Swedish counterparts who had their Swedish meal turned into a frappé.

The inescapable conclusion is that the nutritional value of a food is not merely given in the nutrients it contains, but is dependent upon the synergistic factors that helps us absorb those nutrients. Remove Vitamin P: Pleasure, and the nutritional value of our food plummets.”

- Read the full article here.

I hope that this recipe brings your tastebuds immense pleasure, whilst also benefiting from the amazing nutrients. If you find you are still unable to consume the liver, perhaps reduce the quantity in the recipe and increase it gradually overtime.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of soft grass-fed butter (raw, if possible or oil of your choice)

• 2 small carrots

• 2 celery stalks

• 1 red onion

• 3 garlic cloves

• 50g of chicken liver

• 1 heaped teaspoon of smoked paprika

• 2 heaped teaspoons of ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes

• 1 teaspoon of oregano

• 500ml of passata

• 1 can of kidney beans

• 1 red capsicum

• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
  

Method:

1. Heat the butter in a pan and add in chopped onion and crushed garlic and let it cook until the onions have softened and browned

2. Slice carrots and celery and stir into the pan

3. Cut up the chicken liver into very small pieces

4. On medium heat, stir in the chicken liver and cook for 2 minutes

5. Add in all the spices and stir

6. Pour in passata

7. Wash the canned kidney beans thoroughly

8. Chop the capsicum into small bite-sized pieces and add to the mixture, along with the kidney beans

9. Add salt and pepper to taste

10. Bring to a boil and stir well

11. Turn the the heat down to low and cook for 25 minutes

12. Top with coriander and serve with rice, homemade guacamole and a generous tablespoon of organic Greek yogurt or sour cream