Here I've applied the confit method to chicken hearts, instead of the traditional duck legs.Trimmed, cleaned chicken hearts seasoned and cooked slowly in fat until soft and tender are good in lots of things. Chopped up, gently browned and tossed with buttered noodles, or other pasta based dishes are some of my favorites. They're also great chopped and folded into stuffings. Re-use the fat for up to 2-3 batches if it's refrigerated and strained well after you use it.
Chicken Heart Confit
Gizzards can be cooked like this or in combination with the hearts. Both are excellent-not gamey at all.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb chicken hearts Trimmed of fat to yield 1 lb
- ½ tablespoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 cups chicken fat, lard, or flavorless cooking oil in a pinch
- Small handful of fresh thyme bruised with the back of a knife
- a sprig of rosemary bruised
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 5 cloves of garlic lightly crushed
Instructions
- Combine the chicken and all other ingredients except the lard or oil, mix well, and refrigerate over night.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 250, transfer the hearts and herbs to a separate oven-proof dish like a small casserole, cover with the lard or oil, cover with foil and bake for 1.5 hours, or until very tender.
- Allow the hearts to cool in the fat, then refrigerate until needed. The hearts can be cooked a few days in advance and held in their fat.
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