La Comida de Mi Vida (My Life in Food)

I have never cooked with rhubarb.  My mother being a foreigner andmy dad not liking sour things I was well into my teens before I even heard of rhubarb.  My in-laws grow it in their garden.  I have as of yet to be brave enough to try it.  They gave me a bunch earlier in the spring.  Unfortunately it was right before we were leaving on vacation so it went bad before I got to try these tips.  I’m archiving the ideas here so next time I have a bunch I’ll know what to do with it.  Also, I wanted to find a preparation that used the rhubarb as a vegetable instead of in a sweet preparation.  The savory chicken dish looks like a winner good for a comforting dinner.

source http://ginews.blogspot.com/2006/07/low-gi-food-of-month.html
“You can add bi carb soda 1 tspn to the water when cooking or you can soak it with a bit more. The bi carb nutralizes, some of the acid so only half the aomount of sugar is needed. It does change the colour of the rhubarb but hay who cares??? You can also use this method in things like tomato sauce anything thats acidic and needs sugar added.”

from rhubarbinfo.com/chicken

Chicken Smothered In Rhubarb
Ingredients:

3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into 10 serving pieces
Essence of Emeril seasoning
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, julienned
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic, approx. 2 large cloves
1 bay leaf
Fresh thyme sprigs
1 cup dry white wine (cooking sherry would work – reduce any added salt if using)
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Serving Suggestion: 2 cups cooked white rice, warm, garnish with 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken pieces with Essence and flour. In a large heavy pot, heat the olive oil almost to smoke point. When the oil is hot, brown the chicken for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, allow it to get a crust before attempting to move it so as not to destroy the chicken. Add the rhubarb and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Stirring constantly, caramelize onions, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any brown particles, for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs and wine, cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Stir occasionally and cook for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Stir in the parsley. Arrange the chicken on a platter and garnish with Essence (essence of emeril) and parsley and serve with rice.

I’m always trying to find ways to make chicken interesting. My kids love chicken strips. I though have trouble getting the breading to stick to the chicken long enough to make it actually look like a fried chicken strip and not a half naked attempt at one. Well, last night I finally succeeded at making a tasty, tender completely coated chicken strip that my family loved. Everyone was hungry and I was in a big hurry. I found a quick fix with a box of Stove Top stuffing.

Stuffing Breaded Chicken Strips

Servings: 2 large (for us it was two small and two medium)

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts with the rib meat, defrosted

Half a package of your favorite stuffing mix, crushed or blended to crumbs

1 large egg
1 Tbsp. milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil, more or less as needed

Directions:

Pat the chicken breasts dry. Slice them on an angle across the grain so you end up with strips approximately 1/4″ thick and 1″ wide.

In a blender, food processor or a plastic bag and mallet – crush the stuffing mix of your choice until it is slightly more coarse than flour. Pour the crumbs on a large plate in an even layer.

In a separate bowl beat the egg and the milk together. Now set up your stations leading up to your frying pan with the oil on medium-high heat – chicken, egg wash, crumbs. Dip your chicken strips in the egg wash. Allow them to drip any excess wash back into the bowl then lay them on the crumbs pressing them in to get a good coating. Once well coated with crumbs transfer them to the hot pan of oil. Cook approximately 2 minutes on each side, until the breading is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. There you have quick, tender and tasty chicken strips the whole family will love.

Cutting the chicken breasts across the grain ensures that you will have tender easy to cut apart strips when you are done. I used a box of turkey flavored dressing mix and it was delicious. You could taste the onion and celery and even the turkey flavor came through. My DH is always frustrated by tough, overcooked chicken and he actually congratulated me last night for how tender and juicy the chicken turned out. Like I said, I didn’t want to make anything else fried or too unhealthy so I served these strips atop salads with salad greens, campari tomatoes, olives, pepperoncini and Italian dressing for DH and I and next to a little salad for the kiddies.

Eat your heart out KFC – there’s nothing quite like semi homemade*.

*This term is from a Food Network show called Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee.