pork tenderloin Archives - The Midnight Baker

Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Tenderloin

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 23:00:35 +0000

Toss this jalapeño popper stuffed tenderloin on the grill for your next BBQ. Does it get any better than a bacon wrap?

Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Tenderloin

Tenderloin is one of my favorite pork cuts. The reason for that is that it cooks pretty quickly and can be flavored or stuffed in so many ways. In other words, it’s different each way you make it so you never get bored! This jalapeño popper stuffed tenderloin is just one of those ways.

Lucky for me, tenderloins have been on sale quite a bit in my area. I definitely take advantage of that. And nothing complements a pork loin like a zippy jalapeño popper stuffing. It’s wrapped in bacon too so what’s not to love about this?

Grill Smoker Or Oven

That choice is pretty much up to you–and the weather, of course.

Since I love my outdoor grills so much, my method of choice for this (and any tenderloin) is indirect grilling. To do this, you cook the meat on the unlit side of a gas grill. On a charcoal grill, you bank the coals to one side and cook the meat on the side with no coals underneath. One thing about charcoal grills and indirect cooking is the BBQ must have a lid. A Weber kettle is perfect.

If you have a smoker, that’s a perfect way to do this tenderloin. I’d recommend apple wood chips as it goes so well with pork.

The oven is probably the quickest way to do this. It should cook in about 45 minutes at 400F/200C.

Prepping The Tenderloin

First you must remove all membrane and silver skin. If left on, it will shrink and change the shape of the meat.

Next, in order to fill it, you have to butterfly the tenderloin. I also try to pound down the thick parts so it all cooks evenly.

I won’t lie here–you’re going to need about 2 pounds of bacon to wrap 2 pieces. The bacon should overlap so there are no bare spots. It’s also best to cook this seam side up so you don’t lose any delicious filling. I didn’t need toothpicks or skewers to keep the bacon in place, but have some handy just in case.

The Recipe

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Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Tenderloin

Three ways to cook

Prep Time25

Cook Time3

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: jalapeño popper stuffed pork, pork tenderloin cooked on the grill, stuffed pork tenderloin

Servings: 8

Calories: 1005kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 pork tenderloins
24 oz bacon approximately

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese softened
4 jalapeños cored, seeded and
2 tbs onion finely minced
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs chili powder

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Remove membrane and any fat off the tenderloins.
Butterfly the tenderloins (there are great YouTube videos on butterflying); set aside.
Mix all the filling ingredients in a small bowl. Divide the filling equally down the center of each butterflied tenderloin.
Fold the ends of the tenderloin over the filling and wrap tightly with the bacon slices. FYI you may use more or less bacon than I did depending on how large the tenderloins are—mine were pretty big.
This can be cooked 3 ways—oven, indirect grill heat or in a smoker.
For oven: cook in a 400F/200C oven for 45-60 minutes
For indirect grill heat: place the tenderloins on the UNLIT side of a gas grill. Close the lid and cook for 2-3 hours or until the internal temperature is 160F/80C
For the smoker: applewood chips are nice for pork. Smoke at 200F/100C for 3-5 hours. Internal temperature should be the same as for indirect method

Nutrition

The post Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Tenderloin appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Bourbon Molasses Pork Tenderloin

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 23:00:42 +0000

Fire up the grill for this delicious bourbon molasses pork tenderloin. Make it in the oven too.

Bourbon Molasses Pork Tenderloin–YUM

Have you noticed that pork tenderloins have been on sale a lot lately? They have been in my area and since I love this cut, I stock up big time.

Pork tenderloins are a great choice for when you want “roast” pork but want it quickly. Generally, they take less than an hour when oven roasted so that’s pretty quick. However, here we take the low and slow approach by using indirect heat on an outside grill. Even though this may take twice the time than in a regular oven, this method has many advantages. One of those is that the meat remains juicier.

Indirect Cooking Method

Indirect cooking is outside cooking’s version of slow cooking. A smoker uses the same method but with the addition of wood chips for extra flavor. As an aside, that will work very nicely here too so if you have a smoker, try it. The time will be approximately the same as the indirect method.

You can achieve indirect heat by either charcoal or gas grills. The charcoal grill will require a lid so if all you have is a a topless model, it won’t do here. A Weber kettle is the perfect instrument.

What you do with the charcoal is light it, let it catch so the briquettes are uniformly grey, then pile them up over on one side of the grill. Then place the meat on the side with no briquettes under it. With this method, you have to monitor the heat periodically so I tend to avoid it with longer-cooking pieces of meat. It does, however, produce great flavor.

Using a gas grill is so much simpler because it’s pretty much fuss free. Merely light one side of the grill and cook on the unlit side. No worries with a cover since they all have covers. And there’s little to no monitoring the temperature. This is my preferred method.

Let It Rest

As with all roasts cooked by any method, letting it rest is important. I can’t stress that enough here. Tent with foil and let these babies rest for at least 15 minutes.

You won’t be sorry.

The Recipe

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Bourbon Molasses Pork Tenderloin

Perfect for grilling

Prep Time15

Cook Time2

Marinate8

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bbq tenderloin, boozy pork marinades, pork tenderloin on the outside grill

Servings: 6

Calories: 282kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lbs pork tenderloin trimmed of membrane

Marinade:

1/4 cup black coffee at room temperature
1/4 cup bourbon
3 tbs molasses
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh thyme chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix all marinade ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Place the tenderloins in a large plastic freezer bag and pour the marinade over the pork. Put the pork in the fridge and let it marinate for 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking. On a gas grill, this means cooking on the UNLIT side. On a charcoal grill it means piling up the charcoal on one side of the grill and cooking over the side with no coals (see photo in post). FYI the charcoal grill must have a cover (like a Weber kettle)
Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. You're going to baste the tenderloins with this.
Place the tenderloins on the prepared grill, cover and grill for about 2 hours or until internal temperature is at least 145F/70C. The ideal temperature is 160F/80C.
Move the tenderloins to the lit side of the grill to sear--about 5 minutes.
You can do this in a regular oven, but roast at 400F/200C for about 40 minutes.

Nutrition

The post Bourbon Molasses Pork Tenderloin appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 23:00:40 +0000

This pork tenderloin is very easy to make. It melts in your mouth and has a wonderful garlicky flavor.

Juicy Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is one of my favorite cuts of pork since there’s so much you can do with it.

It can be either elegant like this stuffed and rolled one or every day and that makes it very versatile too. It’s for that reason that I always have at least one–but more often two–in my freezer at any one time.

I’ve done this tenderloin with a slightly Asian flavor because that’s one flavor of marinade that I am particularly fond of and it’s also a perennial favorite with most folks.

Prepping The Meat

Pork tenderloin comes in two pieces.

When you begin marinating it, leave it in the two separate pieces so the flavor can distribute evenly. After the marinating time is up, you tie the two pieces together so it resembles a roast. You’ll need some butcher’s twine–that’s the same string you truss chickens with, but any cotton heavy-duty string will do. My mom used to save the string they’d tie boxes with at the bakery for this purpose–she saved aluminum foil too but that’s another issue.

Tying the tenderloin up in roast form makes it so much easier to slice and the pieces will fuse together whilst cooking.

Mushrooms Or Not

This is an excellent way to use up any small amounts of fresh mushrooms you may have left over. I had about a cup of cremini mushrooms that I wanted to use so they ended up in this.

All you have to do is when the roast is done, set it on a plate and tent it to rest then in the same pan. toss in the mushrooms. Make sure to turn up the oven to 425F/220C and roast for 10-15 minutes. I think it makes a nice addition, but if you can’t stand mushrooms or don’t have any, they’re not a necessary part of the recipe.

The Recipe

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Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Easy and delicious

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Marinate8

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: marinades for pork, pork tenderloin recipes, preparing a pork tenderloin

Servings: 6

Calories: 262kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin
Olive oil for drizzling

Marinade:

1/3 cup soy sauce
4 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbs honey
1 tbs rice vinegar
6 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp ginger
2 green onions chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour in a large zipper freezer bag; place tenderloin in the bag, seal and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Drain and discard marinade. Tie the 2 pieces of the tenderloin together with butcher twine or food-safe string to hold it together.
Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray a large baking dish (13x9-inch is good) with non-stick spray or line with parchment. Place in the prepared pan.
Bake for 1-1 1/4 hours or until internal temperature is 160F/70C. Remove from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice in 1-inch/2.5cm slices.
Serve with roasted mushrooms if desired (recipe in notes section)

Notes

While meat is resting, turn oven temperature up to 425F/220C and in the same pan you cooked the tenderloin in, add the mushrooms and toss to coat with the dripping. Roast for 10-15 minutes.

If you don't tie up the 2 pieces to form a "log" then reduce cooking time to 40 min (a clarification brought to my attention from a reader)

Nutrition

The post Marinated Pork Tenderloin appeared first on The Midnight Baker.