Hereby follows a fabulous guest post by Uncle Vic, my ex boyfriend, current neighbour and lover of all things Vincent Price related…. This was Vic’s challenge for the Vincent Price Halloween Cookalong, but he was poleaxed by lack of cooking pans in his own gaff. Therefore he came down two flights of stairs from his flat, across the lawn in front of our building and up four flights to my place to make it a few days later. Here is his report…
Liver. Everybody loves it. I always enjoy a nice bit of offal, and I’m sure that you do too. But though I have rustled up much of it in times past – principally of the pig and lamb variety – never have I ventured towards the realms of chicken liver. Hence it was only with the expert assistance of Jenny, the Silver Screen Supper Queen and foremost custodian of Vincent Price’s cookbooks, that I attempted the preparation of this dish. To be honest, I peeled the potatoes and poked at the liver with the tongs a bit. Jenny did all the complicated stuff and timing and whatnot.
I must say that to me, as a non-chef, Vincent’s grand book of recipes looks beautiful but is somewhat daunting. As heavy as a tombstone, but with a leathery cushy padded cover somewhat akin to the insides of an expensive Hollywood funeral casket, it’s an imposing volume indeed. I’ve enjoyed looking at the pictures – I like to see photos of Vincent lavishly lounging around in his mobile home clutching a cognac – but it was with a large degree of trepidation that I approached the actual idea of cooking something contained therein. It was a bit scary, in fact, as scary as Price’s performance in Witchfinder General (1968). Well, maybe not quite that scary. But you know what I mean.
I studied Vincent’s words: One of Luchow’s most popular dishes, this is a marvellous way to serve chicken livers. The combination of liver, apple and onion is so outstanding that I don’t even mind dirtying the three pans necessary for their proper preparation. So this was one of Luchow’s most popular dishes, was it? Luchow? Who he? And what about this bit about dirtying three pans? I don’t even own three pans.
Luckily, though, Jenny did, and it was a good job my dear ex was at hand to help. I was relieved to discover the actual steps involved were pretty straightforward. And, even better, Jenny did most of the work. We accompanied the liver with good old-fashioned mashed potato, peas and carrots.
In the end, it was well worth the effort. The livers were delicious. I’d definitely have those again. I had feared that the sugar, butter, apple and sherry would make it all too rich and gloopy and we’d get gout. But it didn’t. It was a splendid repast. Vincent triumphs once more – and this may be my favourite of all the Price dishes I’ve sampled.
Vincent was right: it is worth dirtying the three pans, though the only time I can remember seeing Vincent in washing up gloves was way back when he was bunging bodies in the acid bath in Scream and Scream Again (1969). But I guess that even a legendary King of Horror has to do the dishes once in a while…
14 responses
Ah, the joy of Silver Screen Suppers, Vincent Price, ex boyfriends, chicken livers, three pans all with a teensy dash of Google and Wikipedia…
Intrigued by this delightful dish (I love chicken livers) I searched for a (the?) recipe – and also got the answer about Luchow’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luchow's
http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-livers-sauteed-with-apples-and-onion-rings-260163
Thank you, S.S. Suppers team!
Aw you are sweet! Doesn’t Luchow’s look lovely? If only it was still there, I could make a little pilgrimage.
Thans for the link to the recipe – I’m going to check the one in the Vincent and Mary Price Treasury of Great Recipes to see if VP’s is the same. I do like the note that Rosalind Russell enjoyed this dish too…
Thanks for dropping by Brett – see you soon I hope…
Ah, the joy of Silver Screen Suppers, Vincent Price, ex boyfriends, chicken livers, three pans all with a teensy dash of Google and Wikipedia…
Intrigued by this delightful dish (I love chicken livers) I searched for a (the?) recipe – and also got the answer about Luchow’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luchow's
http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-livers-sauteed-with-apples-and-onion-rings-260163
Thank you, S.S. Suppers team!
Aw you are sweet! Doesn’t Luchow’s look lovely? If only it was still there, I could make a little pilgrimage.
Thans for the link to the recipe – I’m going to check the one in the Vincent and Mary Price Treasury of Great Recipes to see if VP’s is the same. I do like the note that Rosalind Russell enjoyed this dish too…
Thanks for dropping by Brett – see you soon I hope…
Delicious article about Vincent Price’s recipe for chicken livers. Probably the only way I’d approach chicken livers would be if they were accompanied by trusted comfort foods such as apples and onion rings. Good timing for a recipe like this. I’m a Vincent Price fan, too. Thanks for sharing and suggesting that chicken livers may not be as frightening as some of us think.
Thanks for the comment – just nipped over to your blog and love it! Am following you now so will look out for more of your lovely film and food posts…
Delicious article about Vincent Price’s recipe for chicken livers. Probably the only way I’d approach chicken livers would be if they were accompanied by trusted comfort foods such as apples and onion rings. Good timing for a recipe like this. I’m a Vincent Price fan, too. Thanks for sharing and suggesting that chicken livers may not be as frightening as some of us think.
Thanks for the comment – just nipped over to your blog and love it! Am following you now so will look out for more of your lovely film and food posts…
It is really sad about Luchow’s. I have a copy of their cookbook, which was illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans. The Treasury has several of their dishes and I’ve found Vincent Price’s recipes easier to use than the original, actually. I’ll have to pop out to the Asian market and get a package of chicken livers.
Hmmm – I might put the Luchow’s cookbook on my wishlist… I’ll have to have a look at the Treasury to see what else he made from their menu… I had Vincent’s Pots au Chocolat last night – have you made those? DIVINE!
I haven’t made the pots au chocolat before. I usually use an easy Betty Crocker chocolate custard recipe, but actually haven’t made any in a long time. 🙁 Does life have meaning without chocolate custard?
It is really sad about Luchow’s. I have a copy of their cookbook, which was illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans. The Treasury has several of their dishes and I’ve found Vincent Price’s recipes easier to use than the original, actually. I’ll have to pop out to the Asian market and get a package of chicken livers.
Hmmm – I might put the Luchow’s cookbook on my wishlist… I’ll have to have a look at the Treasury to see what else he made from their menu… I had Vincent’s Pots au Chocolat last night – have you made those? DIVINE!
I haven’t made the pots au chocolat before. I usually use an easy Betty Crocker chocolate custard recipe, but actually haven’t made any in a long time. 🙁 Does life have meaning without chocolate custard?