Recipe: Bechinalt (Chicken Gizzards in Cream Sauce/Gravy)

BECHINALT (GIZZARDS IN CREAM SAUCE)
Source: The Impoverished Students' Book of Cookery, Drinkery, & Housekeepery by Jay F. Rosenberg
From: rec.arts.sf.written/Dorothy J. Heydt/June 2004

This is Bechinalt (corrected by a Hungarian friend to read Becsina'lt), as propounded by Mr. Rosenberg's own dear mother.

Bechinalt is sort of tricky in that you may end up with lumps and spatter the entire kitchen. But here goes:

Buy a pound (or more if you desire) of chicken gizzards. Clean and wash very well.

Place in pot, salt and pepper, cover with water (about three cups), and simmer until gizzards are cooked (about an hour). You can do this early, refrigerate, and then finish up just before you want to eat.

Take the gizzards out of the broth and cut in small pieces.

Melt two inches of butter or margarine [Editor's Note: Margarine!] {Transcriber's Note: Butter!} in another pot and with a garlic press, squeeze 2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic into the butter. Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour and make a smooth paste. (If you don't have it smooth, add another inch of butter.)

While you are preparing this sauce, bring the broth to a boil.

Now comes the tricky, spattery part.; Remove the garlic mixture from flame and quickly pour in about 1 cup of the boiling broth, *stirring*constantly;* then replace on flame and put in the rest of the broth, dump in the cut-up gizzards, stir, and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. That's it. You can taste it at this point, and if necessary, add salt and pepper.

Bechinalt is eaten from bowls. The gizzard pieces are forked out, and the sauce is consumed by dipping in pieces of fresh bread. Challah (Jewish egg bread) is best for this purpose [Ridiculous!!!! says my Hungarian friend], but any good bread will do."

And so would mashed potatoes, I should think, for which you'd probably want to make a little more roux and have a slightly thicker liquid, more like gravy than like soup.