Rhubarb Chicken

I joined a CSA. (Community-supported agriculture) For the next four weeks, I'm getting a small bag of vegetables and a fruit every thursday, and I'll probably add eggs and cheese next week as well. A small bag means 6 vegetables, an herb, and a fruit. A large would be 9 vegetables, 2 herbs, and 2 fruits.


This week's bag contained a head of broccoli, 2 stalks of rhubarb, a bunch of asparagus, a head of red romaine lettuce, a bag of ruby chard, radishes, parsley, and apples.

Tonight's meal was rhubarb chicken, in order to use up and re-cook the chicken left over from my last round of stock. The original recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-smothered-in-rhubarb-recipe.html



~3/4 of a quart of boiled chicken (from the last time I made stock)
"Essence" - Emeril Lagasse's creole spice mixture, recipe to follow
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 stalks of rhubarb, cut up into 3/4 inch pieces
1 large onion - julienned
2 cloves of garlic
fresh parsley
1 cup white wine


- Heat a pot with oil
- Toss the chicken with the "essence" spice mix
- Put the chicken into the pan, let it fry for a few minutes
- Add the chicken stock. Let it sit for another few minutes
- Add the onions and rhubarb. Stir constantly until the onions are wilted and starting to brown
- Add the white wine, garlic, parsley. Cover the pot and let it sit for 30 minutes on low



"Essence" spice mix with my modifications. Original recipe at the link above.
2.5 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp salt
4 cloves minced garlic (if you're making this ahead of time, use garlic powder, but I didn't have any)
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp oregano




I've never cooked with rhubarb before. I do like strawberry rhubarb pie, but I didn't have strawberries and I wanted something savory. This was phenomenal. I served it on a bed of chard and romaine lettuce from the CSA. If I weren't so lazy, I would make some wild rice (I still have some of the pink wild rice left, maybe tomorrow) to go with it. I used an old chardonnay that I had left in the fridge for the wine, and it came out as a really nice salad dressing all on its own. The chicken came apart as I stirred the onions in, so I ended up with a chicken salad. The rhubarb was perfectly mushy by the time it finished cooking. I might try adding apples next time.