Crockpot Wednesdays: Kumquat Chicken

Kumquat Chicken

Rating: 4/5

My BFF has an enormous kumquat tree in her backyard. It is so big that we never get it all picked. I've made marmalade with them and I like to put them into my morning smoothies as well. After all, kumquats have the highest concentration of Vitamin C of any citrus.

Unlike other citrus, kumquats are actually eaten whole. The rind is the sweeter part and the flesh is tart/sour. Therefore, kumquats are prized in China for this flavor contrast. You just need to be careful of the seeds. In fact, the seeds are the most time consuming part about using kumquats since you are slicing and seeding a lot of little kumquats for a recipe.

The original recipe on which this one is based is from Epicurious.com and calls for frying the chicken and then sauteing the rest. I wanted to see if it would work in a crockpot and it did! I like more sauce and so I've upped the amount of kumquats needed to a cup, which is probably about 20 sliced kumquats. I also upped the red pepper flakes because I like some kick, so some people may want to reduce that.



Kumquat Chicken
adapted from Epicurious.com version

•1 cup sliced and seeded kumquats
•1 large shallot, sliced
•3 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves or 4 skinless thighs
•2 tablespoons sugar
•1/3 cup water
•3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
•1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
•4 cups packed spinach leaves (from about 1 bunch)

Layer shallots and kumquats in the bottom of the crockpot. Place chicken on top. Mix together sugar, water, white wine vinegar, and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken.
Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
Just before serving, gently remove chicken and toss spinach into crockpot. Stir so that the hot liquid will wilt the spinach. Serve chicken, spinach and sauce over rice or quinoa.

Notes:  If you add the spinach too early before serving it will get ugly.
Cooking times may vary depending on your crockpot.