An Homage to Mad Men: Gourmet's Rumaki

In honor of the third season premiere of Mad Men, I decided to make the mock-Polynesian hors d'oeuvre Rumaki, which Betty Draper serves up in Season 2. And while there are new school versions with shrimp or dates, I wanted to do Betty proud and make the classic recipe with (vegetarians, be warned) chicken livers.

Gourmet's version:

our version:

The first part of the recipe threw me a little: Put on your fave house dress, light a cigarette, and try not to let the Cuban missile crisis spoil your evening.

Check out the price of the liver. 52 cents! Whaa? Is it 1962?? Did I just become the Time Traveler's wife? And if so, did my husband just bring me back reasonably-priced chicken livers?

The next step was to make a simple marinade: soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar, and curry powder.

I felt like Anthony Bourdain buying liver at the meat counter. "Give me the best organs you've got. Yeah, I'm making chicken liver. Whatever."

But, once I had the burgundy sac-like organs on the cutting board, I completely lost my edge. There were these white connective tissues (not pictured) that I just couldn't handle. Thus, I called in Matt to slice the liver into 1/2 inch pieces.Matt finished cutting, examined the brownish red liver-sludge covering his hands and left the room, saying and I quote: "I'm going to go wash my hands for forever."

Here's the slug, errr, I mean, marinated liver and water chestnut getting wrapped in bacon.

I usually avoid recipes that involve broiling because I've used the broiler exactly zero times before but, this recipe called for broiling. So, I broiled... and all of the toothpicks caught on fire. It was like a broiling birthday cake in there.
I guess I should have turned them on their side? (Note the fiery toothpick.)

As for the taste? Matt tried one first and absolutely hated it, feeling that the liver taste was overpowering. After his visceral reaction, I was worried that I might have a major Rumaki fail on my hands. But then I went in for one and thought they tasted fine, mostly like bacon and water chestnuts. Our friends reaction was mixed, though all were eaten. Would I make them again? Not unless the Drapers were coming over.

See you tomorrow, Bets!

RUMAKI (via Gourmet/Epicurious)

• 1/4 lb chicken livers, trimmed and rinsed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 12 canned water chestnuts, drained and halved horizontally
• 8 bacon slices (1/2 pound), cut crosswise into thirds
• Special equipment: 24 wooden toothpicks

Cut chicken livers into 24 (roughly 1/2-inch) pieces. Stir together soy sauce, ginger, brown sugar, and curry powder. Add livers and water chestnuts and toss to coat. Marinate, covered and chilled, 1 hour.
While livers marinate, soak toothpicks in cold water 1 hour. Drain well.
Preheat broiler.
Remove livers and chestnuts from marinade and discard marinade. Place 1 piece of bacon on a work surface and put 1 piece of liver and 1 chestnut in center. Wrap bacon around liver and chestnut and secure with a toothpick. Make 23 more rumaki in same manner.
Broil rumaki on rack of a broiler pan 2 inches from heat, turning once, until bacon is crisp and livers are cooked but still slightly pink inside (unwrap 1 to check for doneness), 5 to 6 minutes. Serve immediately.