Delicious and Funny-Sounding, It's Rhubarb!

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I lived the first 27 and a half years of my life without ever knowingly consuming rhubarb. What?!

Happily, that changed yesterday. I'd gone up to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket this past Saturday and rhubarb seemed to be everywhere, its red and green stalks poking out of crates at more than a couple stands. They were a hard sight to resist, so I went ahead and bought myself a bunch despite having no idea what I would do with it.

Remembering that I had some boneless pork chops in my freezer, I thought I might try out a sauce for them. I love sweet and savory combinations like pork chops and apple sauce, so maybe something similar could be done with rhubarb, which is so tart on its own it almost always needs to be sweetened.

The result of this experiment was a simple compote. Combining the rhubarb with shallots and fresh thyme yielded a dish that's indicative of this time of year for me - somewhere between winter and spring, at once hearty, fresh, and crisp. Needless to say, I was pleased. And, by the end of it, quite full.

Baked Pork Chops with Rhubarb-Shallot Compote
Serves 2

For Chops:
2 boneless pork chops, roughly an inch thick
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil

For Compote:
4 tsp. olive oil
2 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
3 tbsp. agave nectar
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and pat dry pork chops, then season both sides with salt and pepper. Warm a cast iron skillet or other oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, add olive oil to coat the bottom. Sear pork chops for roughly 2 minutes per side, until brown. Remove skillet from heat and place in oven until the internal temperature of the pork chops reads 140 degrees, roughly 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops.

While chops are baking, heat olive oil for compote in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add rhubarb, shallots, and agave nectar and cook, stirring frequently, until rhubarb is soft, about 6 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in thyme just before serving. Spoon compote over (or under) chops, and enjoy!

Comments

[Abby]

Did you know that we grew rhubarb in our backyard behind the garage at 47 Cypress? (pre-Monster house). I am sure you must have eaten my mom's strawberry-rhubarb crisp at some point over the many years, you probably just forgot about it (or maybe you turned your nose up to it at the time) :-P

[abercrombie and fitch]

I am sure you must have eaten my mom's strawberry-rhubarb crisp at