A Food Critic VS The Chef & The Mc Nuggitini

A Texan news daily food blog, "Cook's Tour," from the Houston Chronicle (March 17, 2008,) gave the Chef some props, I think? Quote: "Everyone's gotta have a gimmick. The 99-cent chef's is picking the featured ingredients on his recipe blog from the shelves of....ta dum...99 cent stores and other bargain venues. Frightening formula for chicken-liver yakitori included." Now the Chef knows chicken liver is not for everyone, but was the dish "frightening?" - Hhhmmm, absolutely. Well, you can be sure the Chef has many more frighteningly tasty and fun recipes to come!
Expect nothing less from The 99 Cent Chef.

A perfect example of a frighteningly fun recipe:

To get the Chef's blogging interest, just mix irreverence and food. One such attention grabber is a kooky cocktail creation "The McNuggitini" -- found on LA blog "The StateThat I Am In" and created by fellow 99 Cent Store habitue Georgia and her friend Alie. It's a dizzying combo of a McDonalds Chicken McNugget garnishing a White Russian styled Micky D's milkshake, mixed with Absolute Vodka and rimmed with BBQ sauce.

By the time you reach the last photo panel you may need a double shot of Pepto Bismol! For a 99 Cent Chef version use a 99 cent airline vodka bottle from your favorite local liquor store; trying to find a 99 cent substitute for McNuggets and Shake would be unthinkable! For the funny photo story and cocktail recipe click here (March 17.) Cheers!

photos by Leah

Chicken Liver Yakitori

1 1/2 pound frozen containers of Tyson Chicken Livers are showing up at the 99c only Stores.
One of the first jobs the Chef had in Hollywood was video editing. The owner was from Japan, so the Chef was lucky to be squired around to every Japanese dining establishment in town; from highend sushi bars to yakitori hideaways in Little Tokyo. Walking into a yakitori room is similar to entering a South Central bbq joint, you are hit with the smell of smoke -- you are in the presence of grill masters.



While southern bbq is slow cooked, yakitori is quickly grilled over an open flame. Like a sushi bar, you order individual skewers of chicken offal or meat and vegetables, which quickly arrive lightly charred and perfectly done. In the Chef's version he uses his handy outdoor bbq gas grill. The chicken livers are combined with vegetables like a shish kebab and basted with an oriental sauce.





Ingredients for 2 skewers
8 chicken livers (about 4 per skewer.)
Chopped vegetables: onion, bell pepper, carrots or whatever you have on hand, salt & pepper to taste.
Sauce
3/4 cup total of oyster sauce, sweet & sour, plum sauce or any combination.


Directions
Drain the chicken livers and mix with1/4 cup of your favorite oriental sauce. Chop vegetables in large chunks. Skewer alternately, veggies then chicken livers, making sure both parts of the chicken liver are piecered (the liver is delicate so try not to rip.) Salt and pepper to taste. Place skewers on a hot grill. Because the liver flavor is so intense, use plenty of sauce on the liver during cooking. The trickiest part of grilling liver yakitori is it may stick to the grill; use a knife between the grill and liver to gently loosen before turning.