Mishkin’s – The Bombay Boys

I was thoroughly inspired by my recent visit to Mishkin’s, and so all fired up with this new enthusiasm for Jewish deli food, I decided to try and make my own chopped liver. Now, I love chicken livers and I think they are a thoroughly underrated food as they are cheap, nutritious and frankly delicious. I know some people aren’t quite so keen, but if you like pate then try this is a good alternative to chicken liver pate, then you honestly will like this, too. I know this isn’t the prettiest looking dish I’ve ever cooked, but it is really tasty and also excellent if you are on a carb-free diet. So to follow is my own devised recipe for chopped liver, I apologise profusely to all of those out there who will throw their hands in the air with horror, if I’ve committed some ghastly faux pas in my recipe. I don’t promise authenticity (how I wish I had a lovely Jewish Aunt to beg a recipe from), but I do promise it tastes good.

Ingredients

500g chicken livers
½ pint strong chicken stock
400g shallots or white onions ( I used shallots as I love the sweetness, sweet white onions are good, but ordinary onions okay too)
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh sage (1 teaspoon dried)
1 big fat clove of garlic or 2 smaller ones
½ teaspoon of paprika
100g butter
3 hardboiled eggs, chopped finely
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Place the chicken livers in a saucepan with the chicken stock over a high heat
Bring to the boil and reduce the heat until they are gently simmering
Cook for 15 minutes then take off the heat, drain and allow to cool

In the meantime, finely chop the shallots, garlic and sage – try and do this as small as possible
Place the butter in a large frying pan and place over a medium heat until it bubbles

Add the shallots, garlic and sage and cook on a very low heat for about 30 minutes until the shallots or onions are caramelised and brown
Take off the heat and allow to cool

Using a hand blender, a food processor or a fork, mash up the livers until they are creamy.

Using a spoon mix the onion mixture in to the chopped liver

Gently fold in the chopped, hardboiled eggs and you’re done!

You can serve this any way you want.

I served it on bruschetta with finely chopped red onion, red chilli and fresh coriander and obligatory pickled cucumbers on the side.

Do try it, it is honestly, delicious! Well Les and Katy thought so!

Having been advised by my two favourite food critics (Jay Rayner and the lovely Ellie) that Mishkin’s (25 Catherine Street, Covent Garden) was a lovely place to experience Jewish deli food and amazing gin cocktails, what was a girl to do? Rush there for a lovely long lunch of course! We had the perfect excuse. I was going to the Lucien Freud exhibition (SO worth visiting, his art is amazing once you’ve got over the visual shock factor of all the nakedness) with Ellie and Joyce, my favourite art exhibition companions and fellow-lunchers. So, it was an easy walk from the National Portrait Gallery to Covent Garden.

I loved the informal atmosphere, with the small bar and the booth-style seating. Booths always make me happy, they remind me of New York holidays and treats as a child to the local Wimpy Bar (Don’t turn your nose up, their milk shakes are heavenly!) We indulged in the gin cocktail of the day, whilst we looked at the menu, which appeared as typed by a 1930’s olivetti. Gin, prosecco and elderflower worked extremely well. Gin cocktails at lunchtime seem faintly naughty, but I think should definitely be encouraged in the future. We chose randomly from the menu and decided to share everything. We started with the chopped liver and pickles on the side, and this was truly heavenly. I had imagined it would be like pate, but the addition of the egg made it far different and far more delicious, we all loved it. The macaroni cheese divided us, as it was topped with thinly sliced horseradish (or maybe hot radish of some sort) which Ellie and I adored but Joyce found a bit too hot. The white fish knish divided us again, as Ellie and Joyce were very impressed, whilst I like it but wasn’t bowled over. I did like the little jug of parsley sauce and just the fact that is was called a “knish” was somehow appealing. This was followed by oxtail and cholet. The oxtail was satisfyingly tender and falling off the bone and the cholet seemed odd, as it was served in a separate dish and seemed to consist of salt beef and egg, but then what wasn’t there to like? If I was being super-picky, it could have been seasoned more, it seemed a little bland, but we did devour it.We finished with an obligatory bowl of chips, just for Joyce, as it really wouldn’t have been the same for her if we didn’t. So what was the verdict? Definitely deli delight. I would go back if only for the chopped liver and gin cocktails. Really good lunch place.