BACON WRAPPED STUFFED PORK LOIN

Are you hungry? This is a fun recipe that was created on the Mad Meat Genius fly. I am sure it has been done before and if you follow sound cooking techniques and use quality ingredients you will have success too. We are working with an inexpensive pork loin that has been butterflied, briefly brined and then stuffed with three types of mushrooms, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese. The stuffed meat roll is then wrapped in a weave of bacon and cooked in a covered kettle bbq. Let’s cook dinner.

We will start with the pork loin. The loin is approx 3 pounds. Most of the visible fat is trimmed with a sharp boning knife. With the same knife the roast is butterflied. Do not be intimidated by this process because in the end it is all rolled up and any goof-ups will be covered with bacon. Slice the length about 1/3 down the diameter length of the roll and slowly draw your knife to cut almost through. Turn your roast over and slice down the other 2/3. Place on a cutting board and flatten down any unevenness with a mallet, back of your knife or even your hand. The next step is a quick easy brine.

• 1/4 cup salt
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 cups of water 

Bring mixture to a boil and let cool. When cool place in container and add meat. Add more water to cover meat. Let rest in refrigerator for 3-6 hours. Remove from container and rinse with cool water. Dry off roast. It is time to work on the stuffing.

• ½ pd. button mushrooms chopped
• ½ pd. Portabella mushrooms gills removed and chopped.
• 2 Tablespoons dried mushrooms chopped. (Re-hydrate mushrooms in warm water before chopping)
• 3 tablespoon butter
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 cup bread crumbs (make your own bread crumbs by toasting some bread and using your food processor)
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• Salt & pepper to taste

Sauté the 3 mushrooms and garlic in butter until mushrooms loose some moisture approx 7 minutes. Season with salt & pepper and turn off the heat. Add your breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and let mixture cool to room temperature.

It is time to assemble. Place your butterflied, brined meat on a sheet of wax paper. Spread cooled mushroom mixture evenly over meat. Roll the meat like a Christmas log. Use the wax paper to help you roll it firm but not tight. Wrap the roll in the wax paper and refrigerator for an hour. This will help firm up the roll. I make a bacon weave while I am waiting and place it in the refrigerator also to firm. Take meat roll out of refrigerator and place in center of bacon weave seam side up. Turn meat roll over and tie strings to secure.

You could cook this in the oven but why not fire up the bbq in the middle of winter? We built an indirect fire. This was achieved by banking approx 30 lit charcoal briquettes on each side with a drip pan in the center. Place bacon wrapped meat roll on center of a well-oiled grill grate and cover with kettle lid. Cook for almost an hour or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Remove roast for the very important resting time of 15 minutes.

Slice with a serrated knife. I guarantee you will impress with this Mad Meat Genius creation. Cooking in the bbq adds that certain flavor that we love. The pork loin was tender and juicy. We are sold on the brining technique. The filling was rich and decadent. This is a recipe that we are glad to share. I am looking forward to the leftovers tonight. Have fun.

BROCCOLI RICE

Lately we have been trying to lower our fat and salt intake. It is so easy to indulge in all our favorite meals. Sometimes the body tells you to slow down a little. Today we are going to make some broccoli rice. It will be accompanied by barbequed pork tenderloin. No fat and only a small amount of salt will be used. The tenderloin is very lean and will be flavored with Moore’s Marinade. Today’s star is some broccoli that was found at the Hayward farmers market. It will be pureed and cooked with some basmati rice.

The broccoli was blanched in some boiling water for two minutes. The blanched broccoli was pureed in a food processor with a ¼ cup of the cooking liquid. The pureed mixture was added to a pot of basmati rice. Use a little less liquid when cooking the rice. Some finely chopped red bell pepper was added for a little color. One half a teaspoon of salt was added to the rice mixture. Follow your favorite rice cooking instructions. The kitchen smelled of broccoli while the rice cooked.

The broccoli rice was very flavorful and good looking. The pork tenderloin was delicious. This meal was good tasting, fat free and used less salt. We will try to lower our fat and salt intakes so we can indulge on our favorite dishes occasionally.

Here is Post on Peppers & More about Moore's Marinade.

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CROCKPOT PULLED PORK

Simple, easy and tasty is our dish today. One does not always have 15 hours to smoke pork shoulder to create pulled pork. There is so much good daytime T.V. such as: “The View”, ‘Maury’, ‘Judge Judy’ and of course my favorite ‘Jerry Springer’ (I wonder if Jerry has received my letter to be on the show?) that an easy pulled pork recipe was welcome and necessary. The ingredient list is small as the directions. A pork shoulder, can of coke, a jar of salsa and some barbeque sauce is all she wrote.

The pork shoulder is trimmed of excess fat. It is placed in a crock pot with the can of coke poured over the top and set on high. Four hours later the pork is removed. Remove all the liquid from the pot. Shred the pork with a fork and place back into crock pot. Then add salsa and barbeque sauce to cook for 1 more hour. I told you this was easy. We served ours juicy and tender pork over rice and accompanied it with home made Cole slaw. We were impressed how simple, easy and tasty this pork turned out. No way will it replace pork smoked low and slow but with our busy daytime hours this was a welcome dish.

BACON WEAVE

Bacon weave, is it a new hairstyle? Or is a wonderful crust to a stuffed pork loin. It is the latter and this lattice of bacon will cradle and protect our pork loin roast stuffed with home made sausage. The home made jalapeno sausage was made with some very tasty Mangalista pork fat. All this juicy pork will be cooked in a covered barbeque kettle perfumed with apple wood smoke. This apple wood smoke will be generated by wood that was procured from ‘John’s Wood’. My mouth is watering right now.

The first task was to butterfly our pork loin roast with a very sharp knife. The roast was given a couple of whacks with my trusty meat pounder to uniformly flatten this sausage holding vehicle. Some wax paper was put on the cutting board for our pound of bacon to be woven. A simple braid made these rashers into a colorful arrangement. The weave was put into the refrigerator to firm. All that is left is to assemble this meat log of love. The sausage was spread over the flattened roast and rolled up. The bacon weave was rolled around the roast and the wax paper was removed.

The barbeque kettle was prepared for an indirect fire. Some of our favorite charcoal briquettes were ignited in a chimney starter. Once they were glowing a couple of sticks of apple wood were placed on the fire. The meat log was gently lowered to the center of the grill and the lid was put into place. All that was left to do was wait for the internal temperature to hit 145 degrees. Once our target temperature was met the roast was removed and covered for a 15 minute rest.


Pork, in Pork, on Pork was the ticket today. Juicy and tender with salty bacon and a jalapeno flavored center made for one tasty roast. Apple wood smoke left a subtle kiss of flavor. The bacon weave made for one pretty presentation. This roast was a Mad Meat Genius creation that will go down in our history book of flavor. Wow!

ANGELO

Oh Yeah! Angelo smokes a pig.

MANGALITSA SHOULDER ROAST

Mangalitsa is a breed of pig that is valued for its silky lard as well for its rich meat. This swine has origins from Hungary and its creation is credited to the royal Archduke Jozsef in 1833. Well Ms. Goofy and I are hungry to try a shoulder roast of this fancy pedigree swine. These hogs can get as large as 500 pounds. They are fed a rich diet of hay, alfalfa, barley and wheat for at least 18 months. This is three times longer than your average market pig. This will help produce a richer and deeper flavor of the meat. We had to special order this shoulder roast from Corti Brothers market. Our roast weighed out and ‘a click’ over eight pounds and set us back ten dollars a pound. Did you notice the fat cap on this roast? It was huge and beautiful.

The fat cap was trimmed and saved for future sausage production. This roast was cooked in a slow oven at 300 degrees. We only used salt and pepper to season this roast. We wanted to experience the taste of this meat without any flavor distractions. The roast was seared on all sides in a large skillet and then placed in a racked roasting pan. The roast was covered in foil and placed in the oven. Did the house ever smell so good? Ms. Goofy was drooling just as much as I. When the roast hit 189 degrees it was removed from the oven and left to rest for 20 minutes. It was a long, long, twenty minutes. Some gravy was made with the drippings in the roast pan.

This was one special taste treat. I have never experienced such a pork flavor. The meat was very rich with a intense, pleasing pork flavor. If my eyes were closed, I might even say it tastes of a mild beef. The meat was a little darker than the usual pork we purchase. The flavor was accented with a buttery pork fat that made us swoon. The gravy made from these drippings was some of the best gravy that might have ever been made. I took a cup of gravy and just sipped it with a straw. Mangalitsa pork, where have you been all my life? This was a special treat that has opened our taste buds to a new pork horizon.

SMOKED SAUSAGE TAMALE

 Two weeks vacation from the salt mine and so many ‘Meat Adventures’ to go on. This Meat Adventure brought us to Chico California. We had a very successful visit to U.C. Davis Meat Lab, so we thought “Chico State” would be a meat department just as worthy. This Meat department had all the right tools and then some.

 Except for the ‘Ebonics’’ take on their sign, they were a meat worthy destination. This meat lab was located in a rural area of Chico. You could see the cattle grazing on the grounds. The actual meat market was no more than a window which you placed your order. A pork shoulder of Yorkshire cross breed was obtained. This beautiful pork shoulder was obtained at a very decent price.

The Recipe

(This recipe is only approximations and please adjust to your situation.)

1  1 pound of pork shoulder ground. (The best you can find, at UC Chico)
2   2 tsp sugar
3  1 tsp cumin
4  3 tsp salt
5  2 tsp black pepper
6  2 tablespoons of freshly ground cilantro
7  3 tablespoons freshly ground jalapenos.
8  2 dozen dried corn husks (Soak in warm water until pliable.)

Combine the first 6 ingredients and let rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours. Once meat mixture is cool form into 1/3 cup rolls. Then wrap in corn husks. Smoke or cook corn husk rolls until the internal meat temperature reaches 150 degrees.

This batch of meat tamale was cooked on a Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker. The wood of choice was apple wood. A thermometer was placed in the middle of tamale to monitor the final temperature.

Serve this with salsa and home made corn tamales. The salsa was a melody of home grown produce. The corn tamale was sweet with fresh corn. This sausage was smoky, spicy and bursting with wonderful pork juices. The corn husk protected and cradled this pork bundle of flavor. This Meat Adventure ended with very tasty results.

WOOD FIRED BACON WRAPPED PORK LOIN

Hey, wait a minute, that is an Amaryllis. This image was a lot prettier than the final image of the pork loin. The Amaryllis may be beautiful but it will not compare to the taste of this bacon wrapped pork loin. The wood fire oven was stoked with almond wood to cook this hunk of pork love. Some bacon that was imported from Butlers will cradle, protect, and baste the loin from the intense ring of fire. Our good friend, Reverend Biggles has always preached on the salvation of a meat trivet. He was preaching to the choir because we used a trivet consisting of cubed potatoes. This will elevate the meat from the bottom of its cooking vessel. "Let the Fire Fall!"

The pork loin was cleaned of all silver skin. It was then seasoned generously with salt, pepper and some mild chili powder. The bacon was wrapped around the roast and tied with string. A russet potato was chopped into large cubes. We left the skin on. Salt & pepper, and a whole lot of olive oil was rubbed over this potato trivet. A thermometer was inserted through the center of the roast. The trivet and roast was placed into a ceramic vessel. The fire was built and we relaxed.

The wood fire oven does not have a temperature control. It takes a little practice to get your fire to the proper cooking heat. I have had a tendency to build too big a fire. The thermometer is our saviour. The roast was placed in the oven and the door was closed. Ten minutes later, Ms. Goofy smelled a burning aroma. Some tin foil was placed over the roast and all was well. When the temperature hit 144 the roast was removed to the kitchen for a 15 minute rest.

The roast was perfect, juicy and delicious. The bacon sacrificed itself to the ring of fire to protect the roast. It was a sort of burnt bacon jerky. The potatoes were crunchy on the outside and tender inside. They were basted with the bacon and pork juices. This trivet served its purpose and delivered a heavenly side dish. You know, We are having a lot of fun!

"PIG DAY" DAVIS FARMERS MARKET

It was 'Pig Day" at the Davis, California farmers market. How could one resist? We loaded up the Chilebrown bus with the Reverend Biggles, Ms. Goofy and Chilebrown (designated back seat driver). It was a swift 50 minute drive to Davis. Davis is the home of the University of California at Davis. U.C.D. is famous for their veterinary school and has the only operating table in the world that can accommodate an elephant.

We bought produce and a beautiful pork roast from 'Bledsoe Meats'. Dr. Biggles took a survey on how many Co-Eds were wearing ''Uggs'. A lot of people were wearing pig attire. It was a festive atmosphere. We left the Davis Farmers market with asparagus, artichokes, apples, pork and Dr. Biggles smile.



Monster Pork Roast & Dr. Biggles

This pork roast was a monster. We divided it into three portions and stuck one on the fire. We took it out at 148 degrees after several suggestions on either side of the temperature coin. It was very tasty but a little overdone for our taste. Ms. Goofy whipped up some asparagus risotto. Some baby artichokes were simmered with lemon, wine, olive oil and salt. This was a scrumptious end to a fun day at 'Pig Day'

THE END!

ROASTED PIG HEAD

You know I had to do it. After watching Andrew Zimmern eat all his exotic foods this will be tame. I had to wait till the right opportunity to partake on my culinary experiment. Basically I had to wait till Ms. Goofy was not around. She would never put up for Porky's smiling face. She has been helping watch Jeremy's girls so I had a small window of opportunity. It was an adventure just to purchase this cabeza.

A trip of Oakland's Chinatown was unfruitful. Four meat markets were visited. Most of these stores specialized in selling pork. Most of the workers did not or want to speak English to me. I would use hand gestures, pointing at the pork and then my head. That got a couple of chuckles but no pork head. One keeper spoke English and said he would sell me a frozen head. He turned to his colleagues and spoke in a foreign dialect. He turned to me and said "No Head!", and that was it. I left Chinatown and traveled to High street. There are a lot of Mexican markets in this area. I found a pigs head here.

The head was rinsed and cleaned. A splash of salt and a rubbing of vegetable oil was the only garnish for this smiling skull of porcine. 400 degrees for an hour and 1/2. The temperature was dropped to 350 for another two hours. The house smelled wonderful. It smelled of a delicious pork roast. The roasted pig head was a beautiful golden brown. I immediately broke off an ear and started to munch. It was chewy and very tasty.

The cheek meat was so very tasty. It had a very flavorful rich pork taste. It was not bland at all like a tenderloin. Taco's were the vehicle of choice for cheek consumption. A little salsa made this a treat. I did try a little nibble of the brain. It was not unpleasant but it was a texture and flavor that I was not used to. No it did not taste like chicken.The tongue did have a beefy flavor. Now for the dish everybody has been waiting for, 'Eyeball Taco's". This took a little adult beverage encouragement. I marinated myself and took the challenge. I took a bite and it did pop in my mouth. Not a lot of taste.

This was one for the books. You only live once and eyeball taco's are a must do. I need to get rid of all the evidence before Ms. Goofy gets home.

PULLED PORK BABY

It is 8:30pm Pacific Raider Time, do you know where your children are? I know where my pork shoulder baby is. It is in the Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker. It is going to take a 225-250 degree sleep as long as it takes. The weather forecast is 41 degrees with a chance of showers. The smoker is blanketed with a covered patio and green foliage fence. Extreme weather will only affect cooking temperature and time. I have the baby and the cradle, alarmed with temperature probes to keep it safe and slow cookin. It will awake transformed into the most wonderful ‘Pulled Pork Sandwiches’. ‘Sleep baby, Sleep.’

BACON WRAPPED WILD BOAR ROAST

The Great White Hunter asked me if I would like a wild boar roast. I replied, "Well, maybe?" Of course I want a boar roast. The Great White Hunter had a boar roast from Washington State. Apparently there is a buffalo farm that raises these beasts for consumption. The buffalo roam and graze. Before slaughter, they are put in pens and fed grain. The wild boar raid these pens and eat the grain. They are considered a nuisance. This will be no nuisance in our kitchen.I look at it as a grain fed wild boar. Does it get any better? The Great White Hunter delivered the package and told me it was a mystery cut. We did not know the type of roast it was. It had a large bone, so I am assuming it was a shank cut. This would be perfect for a low and slow bath of mesquite fire. It just so happens that No Name bacon is in the house. Boar is very lean and a wrapping of bacon is perfect to baste the outer surface of the roast. The bacon will tame this Wild beast.

The boar meat is a dark red color. It looks like it will be full of flavor. A dusting of Survival Spice and salt was applied to the surface of the meat. No Name bacon was draped over the roast like a blanket of love. The tamed wild beast was put in a wire roasting rack. Mesquite charcoal was fired up in a chimney starter. When the coals were flaming, they were placed in a Weber to form an indirect fire. A drip pan was placed in the middle to prevent a grease fire. The vents of the Weber were closed to the halfway mark. The roasting rack with the roast was placed in the middle of the Weber and the lid was secured. It was time to pop a couple of James Brown DVDs in the machine and jump up on the good foot. GET DOWN! with your bad self. 'Sometimes I clown, then I step back and do the James Brown.YEOOOOOWWWWW!"

Ms. Goofy just told me to knock it off and turn down the music. Ahh Man! I guess the roast is done. The thermometer is hovering around 150 degrees. It is a beauty. It is all browned, bacon and porky looking. The smell is awesome. We let it rest for 15 minutes and sliced it open. It looked great.

This roast had so much flavor. There was not even a hint of gaminess. This grain fed wild beast hit the spot. The meat was a little tough. If I cooked this again, I would pull it out a little under 145 degrees. The toughness might of been a factor of the cut of the meat. We never did know the origin of cut. Hey a little chewiness gives your chops a work out. I almost forgot to mention the treat of 'No Name' bacon on the top. It was just an added delicious bonus to our meal. The mesquite fire gave the bacon a smoky kiss that could not be beat. Thankyou to the Great White Hunter and No Name Bacon. It was a bacon weekend!

LOIN & BELLY PORK ROAST

While glancing through one of my 'Food Porn' magazines, a loin & belly roast was found. A pork belly was tied to a bone- in loin roast. It was roasted in a hot oven. This was the lightbulb above my head. Of course, my roast would have to be done in the barbeque. This sounded like pure poetry. It was off to the International market for a pork belly. They did not have a bone-in loin roast, so another meat stop would have to be made. The local Wally Mart had the whole loin roast. The butcher was more than happy to cut a 5 pound prime roast for me.

Once home, the meat was rinsed and trimmed to fit each other like they were intended. A liberal dose of salt and pepper was the only seasoning this beauty would need. I tied the two hunks of meat with some cotton string. The rind was sliced at 1 inch intervals and then my baby was placed in the ice cave. Several hours later it was time to fire up the Weber.

The roast would be cooked on a high indirect heat. A drip pan was placed between the two stacks of coals. A little peach wood was the smoking wood used tonight. I wanted to cook this roast above 400 degrees for over an hour. My goal was to get the internal temperature to 150 degrees. An hour and 25 minutes went by very quickly. The temperature was at 150 degrees. Time to take it out and let it rest.

Their was a camera malfunction. No shots of the slice pork today. I will do my best to describe our porkapalooza dinner. The rind on the roast was beautiful. It was a glossy amber sight to see. It tasted like the best cracklin's I have ever had. The actual belly was a glob of meat and pork fat.The fat was oozing everywhere. It was very very rich. It was a little too rich for my taste. It did not have the bacon flavor that we all know and love. The actual loin was a little pink by the bone. It tasted just like "butta". It was so moist and tender. This meat cradled by a pork belly was pure heaven. This was a fun experiment. It is hard to go wrong with pork, fire and smoke. Just make sure you have a back up camera for the money shot.

CHINESE BARBEQUE PORK

Martin and I were hanging out at the Asparagus festival. He asked me if I had been using any of his recipes lately. I told him that I would break out one of my favorites from his book. He was pleased. "If Yan Can Cook, So can Chilebrown."

I used to make this dish a lot back in the day. It is one of my favorites. I have not made it in a while. Of course, I put my barbeque twist to it. We made a trip to the International Market in San Pablo. This is a great store to buy Meat and Fish on the cheap. They have a high turnover of merchandise. This makes for fresh Pork. We are heading to Alemany Market in San Francisco for our vegetables. Asparagus, Mushrooms and stuff were procured at the market. We did not see Chris from 'Zukerman Farms' today. We saw him a couple of weeks back and we are happy that he is well,

1. 1/2 cup hoisin sauce and soy sauce


2. 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil


3. 1 tablespoon dry sherry


4. 2 tablespoon kethcup


5. 1/2 teaspoon of Chineese five spice


6. 1 teaspoon of minced ginger


7. 1 tablespoon of orange peel


8. 3 pounds of pork

Cut pork into steaks and marinade with rest of the ingredients.. Cook in 350 oven for 30 minutes. I put it in the barbeque with an indirect heat for 30 minutes. Serve with Asparagus Chow Mein. Good Eats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!