Chicken Livers with Apricots

Kippenlevertjes met abrikozen

500 grams chicken livers
100 grams bacon or Italian pancetta
6 dried apricots
12 prunes
2 onions
3 tsp chili powder
4 tsp powdered stock
thyme, rosemary
75 ml orange juice
75 ml apricot brandy or juice

This is a recipe for the microwave oven.

Wash and chop the apricots. Put them in a shallow dish with 100ml water and heat for two minutes in the microwave. Let apricots then cool off. Peel and dice the onions and slice the bacon (or Italian pancetta). Halve the prunes and take the pits out.

In a microwave dish mix onion and bacon and heat uncovered for 90 seconds. Sprinkle the chicken livers with chili powder and mix in with the onion/bacon. Cover and heat for 3-4 minutes at 75 percent power.

Combine juice and/or brandy, add the stock powder, thyme and rosemary. Drain the apricots and add to the livers, together with the prunes and the brandy or juice. Put back in the microwave and heat uncovered for 4 minutes at 75 per cent power. Serve with fresh, whole wheat or multigrain baguette and a tossed salad.

The Latin name for ‘apricot’ is ‘malum praecoquum’ meaning ‘peach before ripening’, in other words: ‘precocious peach’. The word ‘praecoquum’ found its way into Greek (‘praikokia’) and Arabic (‘al barquqa’). The verb ‘coquere’ led to ‘koken’ and ‘cook’. The word ‘prune’ for ‘dried plum’ (in Dutch: ‘gedroogde pruim’) - derives from the Greek word ‘proumnon’, which also is the base of the word ‘plum’ itself.