This was an idea that started as a salad, grew butterfly wings, and transformed into something magical.
On the first go around, the idea was very vague–“hmm…pork would taste good with rhubarb and dried fruit”. I pounded out pieces of pork tenderloin, gave them a quick sear, and topped them with an arugula salad dressed with a rhubarb vinaigrette and a smattering of dried figs and pecans. The flavors were good but it just didn’t pack as much punch as I’d imagined. I wanted amazing, not meh.
Thankfully, I spotted a recipe on another food website that made me decide to give these ingredients a second shot together. It was lamb chops with rhubarb-raisin agrodoloce. Excellent, it was basically the flavors I had imagined working so well together made into a dish that made more sense. I combined my ingredients list with the method used in the recipe and came out with a winner. Meh? No way! I got the “amazing” I’d been after.