Thursday, April 29, 2010

Pork tenderloin with rhubarb chutney

Sorry to break it to you, but I'm still on a rhubarb kick. Why not? It's only in season for a little while. Go big or go home, I say.

I had some rhubarb left over from the snack cake, and then I went and bought some more. I'm addicted, I tell you. What goes with rhubarb? I pondered during a slow moment at work today. Duck would be delicious. Lamb, too. But what I decided on was pork tenderloin with a rhubarb chutney.

I had a funny experience making this recipe. I had conceived of the combination in my head, and then I went and found a recipe for it. As I was putting the chutney together, it occurred to me that I'm pretty sure I made this exact recipe once before, a long time ago. But then I guess I forgot about it. And here I was about to take credit for making it up, i.e. remembering it.  Jeez.

I followed the recipe pretty faithfully, except that I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, as that's what I had on hand. It came together very rapidly, always a plus for a weeknight dinner. The result? A brightly-hued, sweet-tart accent to a cumin-spiced pork tenderloin. We all enjoyed it, even Frances, who got a bit of the meat minus the chutney. Feeding a dog chutney just seems like a bad idea.

I won't forget this recipe again: it's definitely going into my annual rhubarb repertoire. 

18 comments:

  1. i like seeing new ways to perk up pork, and a rhubarb chutney would certainly do the trick. no apologies necessary for your rhubarb kick! :)
    (ha--i'm a poet and didn't know it!)

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  2. Oh, your pork turned out lovely! I still have not cooked with rhubard. It may take me a whole season before I do, I think.

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  3. Looks like an amazing dinner! I've never made anything with rhubarb - though I did grow it once (gave it all away).

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  4. Pork is made for fruit. Your chutney sounds like a perfect accompaniment that sings of spring.

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  5. looks fantastic - I jsut have a whole bunch of rhubarbs lying around trying to do something with them. This might be just the thing :-)

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  6. Sounds awesome. I don't often think to add chutney to our meals because the kids won't eat it, but that's a horrible reason. They'll never eat it if I don't at least make it, will they? haha
    I did a really good mango chutney quite a while back that's great with chicken and in chicken salad. Maybe when you've had your fill of rhubarb, you can try that next.

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  7. No need to apologise, in fact you should revel in your rhubarb love! (We're lucky here, we can actually get rhubarb over a long period but I have a feeling some of it is hothouse stuff). I often cook things like that (from memory and think I'm a hot-shot)..but hey, we're pretty cool for remembering those recipes!

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  8. grace: thank you for your delightful rhyme :)

    Ben: give it a try--it's easy as long as you add enough sugar.

    Domestic Adv: how cool that you grew it! Wish I had a garden...

    CJ: I agree, pork is made to go with fruit!

    zlamushka: give it a go! And thanks for stopping by, I'm going to check out your blog as well!

    oneordinaryday: Actual, mango chutney sounds even better to me--I love mangoes!

    shaz: You are lucky to have rhubarb for longer--more time to play with it!

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  9. I just drove 30 minutes for a rhubarb corn muffin - not too easy on the environment but I so needed my rhu fix. When I was young, it grew everywhere - but here, no such luck.

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  10. Yum! I'm always looking for more ways to use rhubarb. And nothing wrong with getting while the getting's good...

    Hope your changes are all for the better!

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  11. I think I may need you to teach me how to cook pork. Now that I've returned to meat, I need to reconnect with it. I've never really liked it, but maybe I never had a good pork tenderloin?

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  12. Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable? I love pork tenderloin so I'm sure I'd love this dish, especially all of the fragrant spices...

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  13. Bring on rhubarb recipes! I'm a big fan. I made some rhubarb chutney a few weeks back and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Didn't have the spices in it that yours did though. The pork looks divine.

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  14. Sounds great, I love pork tenderloin and from what I've heard about rhubarb I can guess this is a great combo!

    Heh, I can't tell you how many times I've done that "learn, forget, remember and think you came up with it" bit with guitar riffs. :D

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  15. agrigirl a rhubarb corn muffin sounds delightful--I'll have to invent one myself!

    thank you!

    camille: thanks so much! I believe they are, just a little bit in flux right now...

    Ash: sure, I can give you some pointers. I actually rarely make tenderloin but it may be a good place for you to start--it's quick to cook and as you might guess, pretty tender. I lean toward chops myself.

    foodhoe: excellent question. I guess I'd say...fruit? Hello, wikipedia.

    Barbara: I thought of you when I made this dish!

    Bob: I think you'd really like this (assuming you decided you liked rhubarb!)

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  16. The pork looks pretty darn good, especially with that yummy chutney beside it! The greens don't look shabby either. Nicely done!
    Pam

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  17. Thanks, Pam! The greens were indeed pretty good--love swiss chard...

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  18. Sophie: Thanks. And clearly I agree--pork and rhubarb are a perfect match!

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