A few weeks ago, while we were visiting my wife’s grandparents, they had us go to their garden and harvest some rhubarb. The only natural consequent of that action is the return of Savory Rhubarb to our dinner plates! We have long posited that while Rhubarb is excellent in pie, it is tragic that the ingredient has been so type-cast over the years, thus preventing it from ever truly allowed to reach its full potential. Onward, we continue with our crusade to right this wrong…and in this case, we worked rhubarb into a spicy/sweet Meatloaf! In the immortal [somewhat paraphrased] words of John Lennon, all we are saying is give rhubarb a chance.
We served our meatloaf with caramelized onions and Mashed Cauliflower, but another phenomenal topper (if you’re all in on the rhubarb idea) would be Rhubarbeque Sauce.
60 Minutes
Ingredients:
- 16 oz Ground Meat of your Choice. We suggest Turkey or Pork.
- 2 Large Stalks of Rhubarb
- An Onion (Plus a little more if topping with caramelized onion)
- Honey
- Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce
- 2 Eggs
- Bread Crumbs
- Sweet Paprika
- Salt
Method:
- Dice your onion and rhubarb.
- Melt some butter in a pan, and sauté your onions until they turn opaque. Then, add your rhubarb. Sauté until your rhubarb begins to lose its texture and almost melt.
- As your onion and rhubarb cook, dice a chipotle chili or two.
- When your onion/rhubarb is ready, add your chipotle pepper(s), some adobo sauce, and a good scoop of honey. Stir to combine, and then set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and give a little oil spray to a loaf pan.
- Combine your ground meat, eggs, and onion/rhubarb mixture in a big bowl. Sprinkle in some sweet paprika and salt, and mix together by hand.
- Pour in some bread crumbs, and mix to fully incorporate. You want enough breading that your meatloaf will hold together as a loaf, but not so much it dries your meat out.
- Scoop your meatloaf mixture into your loaf pan, and spread evenly.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until your meat reaches an internal cooked temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Slice, plate, top with optional sautéed onions (or Rhubarbeque Sauce), and enjoy!
I’m partial to your idea of redefining rhubarb with the more savory foods in mind. In my day (my pre-Gout days) I liked to combine it with white asparagus, to give stalks a lift. Nowadays I don’t dare touch rhubarb or pork because they are known to be full of purins and bring on those attacks. But there are better days as well and one can sin a little bit… I haven’t had a gout attack in 16 months, though I’ve come close a few times, so there’s that.
I would have enjoyed trying this, though 🙂
Oh no! Smart to stay away, but I’m sorry that you have to. I am going to be on the lookout for white asparagus to try your suggestion! Oddly enough, tonight, I’m planning to grill Quail and make a cherry rhubarb glaze…and I think I heard somewhere that cherry juice is good for gout.
Quail with cherry rhubarb glaze sounds great!