I came up with today's recipe when I was looking for a real comfort food....something I could have in the early evening, that's also capable of filling me up, without feeling stuffed, and no further need to have dinner...... I came up with Chicken Gizzard & Yam Broth...!
Aside from the regular beef and chicken meat which feature in my diet often, I decided to use a different type of meat....
When growing up, chicken gizzards were somewhat special...in fact as a practice among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, when a live chicken is caught and prepared for someone (maybe a guest, or for a celebrant), that person for whom the chicken is being prepared must be served the gizzard!
A gizzard is part of the digestive system of most birds like chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. It has a rather crunchy" texture and really strong taste and flavour, which makes it quite an enjoyable type of meat....at least for me.
As with other organ meats, there are health concerns regarding the consumption of gizzards. Even though they contain very important vitamins (B12) and minerals (Zinc & Iron), they are thought to be very high in dietary cholesterol, which can impact on the bad cholesterol level in the body. My opinion is that, the cholesterol levels in gizzards are not necessarily higher than the levels found in more commonly consumed organ meats such as liver, kidneys etc, though my advise is to consume them in moderation.
Making chicken gizzard and yam broth is simple and straightforward. The broth is actually made from the very popular Nigerian pepper-soup base so some knowledge on how to make the soup would be an advantage. Here is what you need and do:
What you need:
- Cleaned chicken gizzards (These can be purchased frozen. Turkey gizzards are a good alternative)
- Some puna yam, peel and cut into small chunks (potatoes are a good alternative)
- Good quality chicken stock
- Green pepper
- Some black pepper
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh basil or scent leaves
- Freshly milled ehuru (African nutmeg)
- Couple of uda sticks
- Coconut oil
- Onion, fine diced
What to do:
- Rinse the chicken gizzards in fresh clean water and remove all unwanted parts ad traces of fat. Cut chicken gizzards into small pieces to enable them cook fast.
- Place cleaned gizzards into a large pot and season with some salt, fresh thyme, chopped green pepper, some black pepper and onions.
- Add water and boil gizzards until the water dries out and the gizzards become tender.
- In a separate pot, heat some oil and add some finely diced onions. Allow the onions to brown then add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and then add the chopped cooked gizzards. Add also some freshly ground uda and ehuru. Stir and taste for salt. Then add the yam chunks and continue to cook until yam become soft.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir the broth, gently crushing the cooked yam until it becomes mashed up.
- Add some fresh chopped basil and also some drizzling of coconut oil.
- Serve with some chipped/fried yam.
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