When I was a kid back in the 1940's, whenever we had Chicken Dinner, we would regard the Giblets as Delicacies! It was a moment of pleasure when we ate the Heart, Liver, Gizzard, and sometimes the Neck of the chicken. There were 4 of us: My sister, my Parents and I, and we would break the Wishbone with the person opposite us at the table. It was a Ritual! Does anyone do this anymore? Hal
I remember the same from my childhood, Hal. I haven't had giblets in years, I suppose since I only buy pre-cut chicken breast nowadays. Occasionally I buy a rotisserie chicken but those don't have any giblets. During the holidays I buy a whole turkey and boil the giblets and neck to make stock for gravy, though.
I haven't had them lately but gizzards cooked until they are tender then add rice is really good. But to get them tender, they have to be simmered for hours. Otherwise, it's like chewing shoe leather. Works for necks, too. Livers fried are one of my favorite foods. I've never eaten hearts. It seems kinda cruel.
I remember giblets. I can still see my father chewing on the neck, his favorite part. The only part I remember eating was the heart.
My mother made a delicacy of chicken livers. The rest of the giblets went into the stock pot for soups and sauces later on.
Thanksgiving time, my Mother cooked the giblets, neck, etc. in a soup pot to make broth, and I happily ate the stomach, sometimes heart, never the liver. We used chicken livers calve's liver to make old-fashioned Czech liver dumplings, but that was another fare served as soup, usually with some noodles thrown in. My Paternal grandma used only chicken livers; I loved calf liver both fried with onions and ground into dumplings! Frank
I still fry all those parts and do wishbones with the grandkids. I don't really put them in any giblet formed. Just separate pieces fried. And yeah....I eat the vein inside the neck as well.
We have chicken livers often, I never liked the gizzards Hearts are ok. I almost always got the neck.
One other thing I like is chopped chicken liver with a thin slice of onion on rye sandwiches. Can only find the real McCoy in NYC. delis.
Back when I was growling up, and even for many years afterwards, the only way to buy a chicken was to get a whole one that you had to cut up, and it came with heart, liver and gizzard inside. My mom always cooked it just like the rest of the chicken, and that is what I did , too. the gizzard was tough, but tasted fine, the liver was good, and I enjoyed the chicken heart, even though it was only one little bite. I have bought calf’s heart, when we lived where there was an actual butcher shop and you could get more than just the pre-packaged stuff that most stores have . Baked calf heart, stuffed with the same kind of stuffing we used in chicken or turkey, makes a delicious meal. At thanksgiving, we always cooked the giblets first, and the neck, then chopped them up and added that (along with the neck meat) into the stuffing for the turkey. I really like fresh liver and onions, but I want to cook it myself, because most restaurants cook it into something that resembles shoe leather, and not tender liver.
When we were first married my wife(who didn't like liver) tried to cook it because she knew that I did like it. Well in order for her to be able to eat it, she did everything and it turned out like leather. After a few attempts she talked to my mother and found out the proper way to do it and she's loved it ever since. Have to add tho that neither of us can eat it anymore due to other issues.
Thank you, @Hal Pollner , for the compliment on my avatar photo ! Since my birthday is this month, and Bobby’s is next month, it seemed like a good time to use this photo of the two of us together, and it always makes me happy to look at it. This is a great thread about giblets, and not only reminds me of cooking and eating them, but also of having to chop off chicken heads, and clean them ready to cook. Part of that task is to cut apart the gizzard and clean it out. The first time I did this, I didn’t realize that I had to cut the gizzard apart, and also take out that tough membrane on the inside of the gizzard, so even though it was cooked forever, it was still way too tough to chew and eat. After that, I knew to take the membrane off when I cleaned the gizzard out !