Sandra Spee is the Kitchener’s mom, his Young Assistants’ Oma, and a great cook! She has cooked real food for as long as the Kitchener can remember and always makes use of whatever is growing in the huge garden that she and her husband/Opa have next to their home. She lives in Olympia, WA and prefers sunny weather.
More than thirty years ago when we bought our house, we also acquired a very large rhubarb patch. I am not a huge fan of rhubarb although I can enjoy it in bread or pie with the usual ton of sugar. However, I live with a diabetic and work hard to maintain my own weight, so making sweet desserts all the time isn’t such a good idea.
Consequently, I was delighted this spring when our local paper, The Olympian, published a savory recipe using two whole cups of sliced rhubarb and ONLY two teaspoons of sugar…oh, and orange juice. We didn’t have pork tenderloin so we just used a couple of frozen pork steaks well trimmed of fat. (The pork was locally raised by my coworker…or should I say the pig was?) Also didn’t have shallot so just used a bulbous but garden fresh over wintered scallion from the garden. We did have the fresh chives!
Recently, my husband and I spent an evening with our youngest son and his wife who live an hour or so north of us in Washington. They are both huge rhubarb fans and always get some from us in the spring. So to my newest daughter-in-law, here is the savory recipe I promised you.
Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Rhubarb Orange Sauce
My compliments to Sara Moulton for her very cute article as well as original recipe.
Ingredients:
In a large skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Working in batches, add the pork to the skillet. Cook, turning to brown on all sides, for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until the pork is just pink at the center (about 145 degrees). Transfer pork to a plate, and cover with foil.
Return the skillet to the heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil, the rhubarb and the sugar. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the orange juice and simmer for 2 minutes.
In a small bowl or glass, whisk together the water and cornstarch, then add to the simmering broth in a stream, whisking. Return the sauce to a boil, then whisk in the mustard and any juices on the plate from the pork.
To serve, spoon the pork onto plates, then top with some of the sauce, and garnish with chives.
Here are some other savory rhubarb recipes:
Spring? Maybe it has arrived. We feel it a little bit more each day. In terms of planning our menu for the week Cinco de Mayo should be an obvious meal choice (if it’s not obvious, it’s going to Mexican!). However, I will still do my best to utilize local ingredients, which actually should be pretty easy, other than avocados, lime, and tequila…. Other than that this week is a little bit difficult to plan for. One problem is that some of our favorite winter storage vegetables (namely the leeks) have been disappearing from the market the last few weeks. That would be okay if it were accompanied by the arrival of Spring vegetables… but it hasn’t been! We’ve been waiting for an abundance of Spring greens but since they haven’t really arrived we have been somewhat unsure what to plan! So, this week’s plans for now are going to include things that we can plan on—cabbage and root vegetables like potatoes and beets! Oh, one more thing, the Beet and Red Cabbage Salad from last week’s menu turned out great!
Desserts – I don’t plan desserts, they are just whatever sweet treat we have made recently, but these Chocolate Diablo Cookies from Chatelaine Magazine are amazing!
Also, an apology: last week we didn’t get to two of our meals… so we are eating them this week (which means that two days in this menu are identical to last week’s)! On Wednesday we didn’t make the planned meal because I didn’t feel like cooking… that was the day I ended up baking with My Assistant all day (yes, I realize this was ironic). Thursday I had a disaster (which I will write about in a day or two)…. And I’d love to hear from you if you’re trying any of these dishes, or what local foods you’ve been enjoying lately! Share a link to a recipe that’s local for you below! Try to think of what you could do for 100 Mile Monday this week….
Ok, the plan for the week:
Monday | |
Tuesday | |
Wednesday | |
Thursday | |
Friday |
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Saturday |
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Sunday – ¡Cinco De Mayo! |
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