The Chef: Jeffrey Sills (Sprout)The Challenger: Blair Herridge (Browntrout)The Ingredient: Chicken gizzards
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The gizzard is a muscular second stomach that all birds have to help pulverize their food; some birds swallow small rocks to grind up harder items like seeds and nuts. Methods of preparing gizzards are as diverse as the countries in which they’re traditionally eaten: fried, grilled, pickled, stewed, or barbecued; they’re common in Haiti, Portugal, Hungary, Nigeria, France, and throughout southeast Asia, as well as in parts of the United States. Many local chicken shacks, including Harold’s, serve fried chicken gizzards.
Sills asked his dad, grandfather, and a few of his cooks what they’d do with chicken gizzards, and they all said to deep-fry them. Instead, Sills decided to confit them in duck fat, a cooking technique more in line with Sprout’s French style.
Video by Michael Gebert/Sky Full of Bacon
Who’s Next:
Elissa Narow, pastry chef at Perennial Virant and Vie, working with huitlacoche. Also known as corn smut, it’s a fungus that grows on corn and is often eaten in Mexico. “It’s just this nasty-looking, mushroomish fungus,” Sills said.
Carrot-mustard puree 1 lb carrots 1 qt carrot juice ½ c creme fraiche ½ c whole-grain mustard Salt
Separate the chicken gizzards from the vegetables and duck fat and panfry briefly over high heat. Plate with poached egg, roasted carrots, morels, borage leaves and flowers, and a smear of carrot-mustard puree.
