j biesinger
TVWBB Platinum Member
We started having pot luck luncheons at work, and the organizers think its fun to have a theme. This theme was "iron chef: apple." I racked my brain and came up with this silly little dish.
3 pork tenderloins, 8 hr brine of apple cider(1 apple), salt, brown sugar and cure #1
rubbed with a "sweet" rub of chile, cinnamon, thyme clove, etc and smoked over apple wood (2 apples)
coated with an apple glaze (3 apples)
off the kettle and going to bed for the night
I sliced the cold tender loin and plated it in a warm skillet with shallot and apple marmalade (4 apples)
notes:
1) the brine was about perfect but the time period was not sufficient to get the cure to the center, there was a dime sized gray area in the middle of each loin, I'm still not convinced much, if any, flavor gets transferred during such a short brine time.
2) these took about 90 min, over a very small fire, to get over 140*. I was a little wary of serving them rare but I deemed them safe since they got hung up in the 140-145* range for a good 15 min, and I figured I could slice them early and reheat for longer or shorter depending. They ended up being nicely cooked and were surprisingly moist and tender after the reheat, I say the best I've cooked, even counting the reheat.
3) I went heavy on the smoke seeing as the weren't exposed for very long. They were a tad too smokey, but there weren't any complaints
4) I got a few really nice compliments from a few co-workers, but as always the star of the show ends up being a soup with ravioli and premade meatballs, and some caramel apple cake.
3 pork tenderloins, 8 hr brine of apple cider(1 apple), salt, brown sugar and cure #1
rubbed with a "sweet" rub of chile, cinnamon, thyme clove, etc and smoked over apple wood (2 apples)
coated with an apple glaze (3 apples)
off the kettle and going to bed for the night
I sliced the cold tender loin and plated it in a warm skillet with shallot and apple marmalade (4 apples)
notes:
1) the brine was about perfect but the time period was not sufficient to get the cure to the center, there was a dime sized gray area in the middle of each loin, I'm still not convinced much, if any, flavor gets transferred during such a short brine time.
2) these took about 90 min, over a very small fire, to get over 140*. I was a little wary of serving them rare but I deemed them safe since they got hung up in the 140-145* range for a good 15 min, and I figured I could slice them early and reheat for longer or shorter depending. They ended up being nicely cooked and were surprisingly moist and tender after the reheat, I say the best I've cooked, even counting the reheat.
3) I went heavy on the smoke seeing as the weren't exposed for very long. They were a tad too smokey, but there weren't any complaints
4) I got a few really nice compliments from a few co-workers, but as always the star of the show ends up being a soup with ravioli and premade meatballs, and some caramel apple cake.
