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Saturday, October 10, 2009

HOW TO GRILL PORK LOIN for Mr. Red Hot And Mrs. Mild Green JELLY

I really am going to try to make this one short
(for a change)...
Lots of photos, but short Dick and Jane captions
But first...

Give away contest is happening RIGHT NOW,
for 6 more days...
Click HERE for details.

Started a Brother Blog
HAPPILY MARRIED GUYS WHO COOK
Click HERE for details.

Look what I did... two different Pork Loins, both spiral cut, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, onions and sweet red bell peppers...

one with a spicy RED HOT JALAPENO jelly glaze
One with a Mild GREEN JALAPENO jelly glaze


Here's what I did...

Assemble the ingredients...

4 pound pork loin, cut in half
4 ounces Mozzarella cheese
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
3 table spoons FISCHER & WIESER brand RED HOT JALAPENO Jelly
3 table spoons FISCHER & WIESER brand MILD GREEN JALAPENO Jelly

I have talked about this before, but I LOVE a spiral cut flavored pork loin. Each time you do this, it gets easier, but basically, get as sharp a knife as you have, and start cutting 3/4 inch into the loin and keep rolling it out as you slice...

And there you go... As you get to the end, it does get a little tricky. As you can see, I opted for just a little thicker, instead of cutting through another layer. If I had enough guts, I could have ran another couple of inches... But I didn't.

Lay out a layer of cheese (Note: I am leaving for a vacation in a 9 days. Me and the Mrs. are trying to use up what we have in the fridge, without buying new. I am under orders not to buy things when I have comparable items in the fridge. If I had my way, I would have done a layer of a less melty cheese, say a nice Provolone. I had a choice... use what I had, or piss off the wife... At the risk of hurting whatever street (blog) cred I have about creating a recipe, I chose to use a cheese that really does not work well... But my wife loves me).

Add a layer of the onion and the pepper. Note that in a desperate hope that all the cheese does not ooze out the sides, I made a little dam around the cheese of peppers and onions. Even if (when) the melty cheese oozes out the sides, at the very least it will flavor the onions and peppers.

If you remember from yesterday's post, I have a bottle of the signature sauce of Fischer and Wieser, handcrafted one jar at a time, THE ORIGINAL ROASTED RASPBERRY CHIPOTLE SAUCE (That's what I am giving away, Click HERE for details. I poured a little of that on top of the center section where the cheese is. Again, if (when) the melty cheese oozes out the sides, the sauce will flavor the cheese, which will flavor the peppers and onions.

Gently roll the loin up. Do not push and compress while rolling. You want as much as possible of the stuffing to stay in. Notice that due to the pepper and onion dams on the sides of the cheese, at least when starting out, none of the cheese was visible.

I am lucky enough to have several rubber band type cooking bands. These work GREAT to secure the loin. They do not melt, and are dishwasher safe. I use these a lot, and are worth their weight in Saffron Threads. I will put a link at the bottom of this page for where to find them. If you are not lucky enough to have these, use butcher string to secure, or toothpicks also work.

The bands are color coded. These were identical at this stage. When the finished products came out, If they still were identical, I could tell the difference.

OK... Time to apply the jelly. As long time readers of this blog know, I love a dry rub. But the good people at FISCHER & WIESER were generous enough to give me a few samples, and I wanted to test them out. So despite shacking hands, I decided to only apply the jelly as a glaze. I certainly could have added a rub over the top, but i wanted to taste this product first before I start adding my own touches,

Applying the jelly is easy, but messy. To avoid contamination with the raw pork, have three spoons handy. Each time you add a little jelly, use a new spoon. Not to be indelicate, but spoons are easier to wash than the floor around your toilet bowl.

Hands work best. Rub it in gently (push too hard and the goo in the center will come out).

I did one with some of the Mild Green Jalapeno jelly (for my wife's delicate palate), and one with their RED HOT jalapeno jelly (for my palate).

Set your grill up for indirect heat. If you use coals, that means shoving them to the sides, with a drip pan under the meat separating the coals. If, like me and Hank Hill, and you are cooking with propane, it means using the outside burners, and the burners under the loins turned off.

Here they are after an hour... yep, as expected, the cheese was starting to ooze out. But notice how the loins expanded in the center between the cooking bands. Plenty of cheese was still in the middle.

This is after 2 hours. I added just a shade more of the jelly to get the best glaze possible. I left this on for another 15 minutes to get the proper look... Internal temperature was measured with an instant read meat thermometer. A proper 160 degrees! Due to the nature of a spiral cut, I measured in a couple places so I was sure I was measuring the temperature of the meat and not the goo.

And here they are right before cutting (let them sit loosely covered with foil for about 10 minutes before cutting to let the juices settle).

Everybody...

OOOOOHHHHH .... AAAAAHHHHHH

Again, using up what was in the fridge, I had a little left over potatoes from that unspeakable post a few days ago, and some frozen corn (sadly, the fresh corn on the cob season has come and gone for awhile).

Boy this was good. The HOT jelly was not too hot, but certainly does spice up the loin. The Mild green was just that, mild with just enough heat taste to enjoy. My delicate wife did try my spicier loin. Had I only made one, with the hot jelly, she would have happily eaten it. She did prefer the mild in a side by side taste test.

Like I said, I do love a spiral cut. Each bite is so full of flavor. Not just the outside spiced parts. It takes a little effort to learn, but I honestly do not see making a loin without this cut. Flavors everywhere...

And there was a little cheese left in the center, but more importantly, the onion and pepper stuffing was filled with a variety of flavors. All in all, I will make this again, exactly as posted (with the exception of a different cheese).

I am going to write a companion piece to this post on my brother site about the love and respect I show my wife when I cook for two like this. If interested, find the HAPPILY MARRIED MEN WHO COOK BLOG (that you can reach by clicking HERE).

I mentioned a few specific items in this blog. If you are interested, here's where to find them...

17 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous pork loin! Great idea to use jalapeno jelly!

    Isn't it hard trying not to buy new groceries before you leave for vacation? And then you get home and the fridge is bare! I hope you have a wonderful trip!

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  2. This pork loin looks wonderful! I'm going to have to get me some of that jalapeno sauce. Again, I think Whole Foods has it, I've just not been there yet to see.

    LOL - there's a 500 pound gorilla in the room! I can't believe I had to look at that potato one more time!!

    I can't wait to hear about New Orleans. As you know, it's my favorite culinary city!

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  3. You are making my mouth water dude, looks amazing!

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  4. This is wicked! You've actually given me an idea for a meal I make for my family around Christmas time. Mmmm. Hmmmm...

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  5. Love the Pork Loins ( Looks unbelievably GOOD). Love the bakeable rubber bands ( never knew it exsisted). Love the Jelly Glazes ( Cute that it comes in a Mr & Mrs). Awesome Post alround !

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  6. I bought those bands too! I just found them the other morning (at 3 AM when I was cleaning out jars of vinegar and spices that were 10 years old) and I realized I hadn't used them yet. I must get on that! The spiral pork loin looks great. Hmmm, what would I like stuffed in it........?

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  7. These look amazing! I love the pepper jelly!

    Good luck on your new cooking club. I have friends whose husbands know their way around the kitchen. Lucky them. Sadly, I don't think that my hubby would be a candidate for your group (he's mastered heating Hot Pockets and mac n' cheese with hotdogs. LOL.) Although, he did impress me this summer with his mad skillz on the Coleman when our gas grill finally bit the dust. Maybe...

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  8. Mmmmmmm love pepper jelly! And hey, don't knock oven roux till ya try it. ;) You too will be converted LOL!!

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  9. I'm drooling here; melted cheese and jalapeno jelly for stuffing sounds fantastic! Really, I just live in Missouri- I can drive up for dinner anytime! LOL
    Good luck getting your other blog going- hope lots of guys step up!
    Sadly, my wonderful hubby does't cook. ~sigh~

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  10. that pork loin looks great! I'll have to try that method in the future.

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  11. This combination sounds absolutely delicious. Whered you get such cool rubber band toys?

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  12. Man, Dave, you answered a question that went through my head at 2 am last night. I have a pork loin that I was going to spiral cut today and the though went through my head about how was the best way to make sure it was really "at temp" when probing it.

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  13. Looked great! I've made Jalapeno jelly- tasty and not too much burn at all..

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  14. That is a gorgeous pork loin. I love raspberry chipotle sauce and it is perfect in this recipe.

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  15. Love jalapeno jelly! Thanks for the pix on the spiral cut loin. I learned something really cool today, thank you! This pork looks outstanding. Well done!!

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  16. Great job! I've had a hard time with spiral cutting things, I need more practice wicked bad.

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  17. oh my, I love everything about this!!

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