Marinated Pork Tenderloin wrapped in Streaky Bacon

I was talking to my friend Russell who lives in one of the great BBQ states in the US and he mentioned a particular marinade he likes. It turns out that it is only available fairly locally. You would not get it in the BBQ wastelands of Ireland. After a bit of searching and following a few bread crumb trails, I came across a marinade recipe on southernplate.com which looked nice and is an All Purpose Marinade. There are some pretty good recipes on that site.

It was a great day weatherwise here today and I had a pork tenderloin in the fridge. Obviously a great opportunity to try it out.

Here is the basic recipe, which I modified slightly for my tastes:

2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp ground ginger
250ml soy sauce
250ml water
½ tsp liquid smoke (optional)

1 Pork Tenderloin
1 packet of streaky rashers

Oops, when I made it I forgot to add the liquid smoke, but it was great anyway.

Basically mix it all together.

Cut the pork into about 25mm (inch) slices and put in the marinade. I probably used about two thirds of the marinade for this.

I left the pork in the marinade for about 40 minutes, removed it and wrapped each piece in the bacon and put on a metal skewer. The next time I would separate the pieces, so the bacon crisps up more.

This is them on the old BBQ

I cooked them for about 4 minutes on each side before turning them and re-positioning as required. I also used a temperature probe to make sure they reached at least 72C. I think it took about 12 to 15 minutes in total.

I turned off the BBQ and let them rest for a further 5 minutes in the residual heat. This is the final product minus 1 piece that Nuala scarfed (an Irish term for eating without due care and attention).

It was totally delicious. Juicy, tasty and full of Umami. A real winner. Everyone present liked it. Definitely worth a further try. I presume that the Soy Sauce had a Brining effect on the meat, which made it extra juicy. If Nuala liked it, and she is a Supertaster, then it must be good. Street Cred 180.

Insanity Chilli Sauce

This is my latest chilli sauce which has been called "Insanity Chilli Sauce" by people that were fortunate or unfortunate enough to taste it. I suspect the name is based on the Simpsons episode about the Guatemalan Insanity Pepper.

It is very hot, the way I like it. To paraphrase from that Simpsons episode, I am not the Pope of Chilitown, I just like hot sauces. I think the result is pretty good and does not have any hallucinating properties.

The recipe is fairly simple, as is the method.

Ingredients:

20G Cumin Seeds

20G Coriander Seeds

100G Extra Hot Chilli Powder

4 Tins Chopped Tomatoes

2 Tbs Salt

3 Tbl Suger

120 ml of Malt Vinegar

1 Bulb of Garlic

I use Extra Hot Chilli Powder because it is consistently hot. Fresh chilllies vary in strength, so don't really add much to the final product. 

In relation to the garlic, I like to use one of the big bulbs. When they are fresh, the cloves are nice and juicy and also hot.

Method:

Add the tomatoes to the pot and bring to the boil. 

Grind the coriander and cumin. Add to the pot.

Add the chilli powder.

This makes the liquid fairly thick. Turn down low and put a lid on the pot. Cook for about 30 minutes to let the powders loose their grainy texture.

Get your jars and lids sterilized with boiling water.

Add the vinegar.

When it is boiling again, turn it off. You don't want the Acetic Acid in the vinegar to evaporate. 

Wait for a couple of minutes and crush in the garlic. Again, you don't want the aromatic oils in the garlic to evaporate.

Decant to molten lava into the jars and seal immediately. 

I like to leave it for a day or two the let the ingredients get to know each other.

The end.......

The sauce is great with almost everything. My favorites are burgers or chickens and of course, the noble spud.  

It also makes a superb salad dressing. No fat, so virtually no calories.

Enjoy.

Here are a few little jars that I propose to give to some deserving people.

Latest Chilli Harvest

 

This is the latest batch of chillies that I grew. There is a Euro Coin on the left, just for scale. Some of the chillies are fairly large.

I was going to make a Chilli Jam and a Salsa. My friend Lee suggested that I also make a Chilli Oil. So, that was the goal.

I had just under 200g of Chillies. They were a mixture of Dorset Naga (Ghost) and Super Chillies. The Naga is super hot and the Super ones are also fairly hot. I split them in three and used a third in each recipe.

WARNING: Brefore we go on, I must emphasise that these chillies are very hot and you need to use plastic/rubber gloves when handeling them and any utensils that have been in contact with the chillies. After I made everything, I got something on my hands and they started to burn. Easily washed off, though. Special warning to men. You know what I mean. WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU TOUCH ANYTHING.

Chilli Oil:

I dried the Chillies in the oven @ 100C for about 40 mins. I started watching them after 15 mins and just kep going until they were dried out.

I blitzed them and boiled them in malt vinegar. This has something to do with changing the ph of the chillies, so that the Botulism bacteria are killed. It is known to br found in chillies.

What was left was fairly dry, so I put it into some Vergin Olive Oil and brought up the temperature. Do not boil.

When it was hot, I put it into a scalded jar. When the mixture had cooled, I topped up the jar woth more Olive Oil.

The End.

Chilli Jam:

This was a first for me. I basically followed the recipe on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/03/chilli-jam-recipe

I did not use the tomatoes. I used a whole bulb of garlic, jam suger (it contains precin, so bit helps) and about 30 chillies.

Again pour the hot mixture into scaleded jars.


Chilli Salsa:

Choose the tropical fruit of your choice. I like pineapple.

This time I used a tub of SPC Natures Finest, which contains pineapple, pear and peach in juice. I use the whole tub.

So, dump your fruit into the blitz machine of your choice, add all the chillies, one bulb of garlic, some salt and a good glug of vinegar.

Blitz it until it is the consistancy you like.

Taste and adjust the seasoning, if required.

Plop in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few mins.

Once again, decant into steralised jars.

The End.

Here is a picture of the latest family members.

I have named them, from left to right: Mr Chilli Oil, Mrs Chilli Jam and Mad Cousin Chilli Salsa.

The Chilli Oil is a bit lighter then the picture. You can see the residue at the bottom of the jar.

I tasted it It didn't taste hot initially, but then the heat sort of crept up on me scarred me. It was like a panther creeping up on you. You know it is coming but don't know when it will strike or how much damage it will do. Nice. Love the Burn.

The Chilli Jam was very red. When I blitzed the red peppers the result was a sort of pink but when I put the chillies in, it turned very red.

The taste was quite sweet, which is not a surprise, as it is a jam and has 700g of suger. It is a nice sweet garlicy sauce that gives you a punch in the face. What more can you ask for? Love the Burn.

The Chilli Salsa is a different animal.

It is a little sweet, a little tart but hotter then a blow torch. I dipped a spoon into and tasted whatever clung to the spoon. 10 seconds in, it got hot and kept getting hotter for ablut a minute or two. Then it started to spread to my head. It felt like I put a rubber band around my head and let it compress and pull my hair as it headed towards the back of my head. I know you have done that.

What a rush when the endorphins kicked in. Burn burn burn. Great.

I did not distribute the Naga and Super Chillies equally between the three batches. I just grabbed a handful and measured 60+ grams.

Great result and practically free. The only thing I bought was the Jam Suger.

Best Cajun Spice Mix

 
Cajun Spice Mix A handy mix using fairly ordinary ingredients. I like grinding my own pepper, as results in a more aromatic product. I have a grinder, I use for spices and one for coffee. You really need two grinders, as hot hot coffee is not great.


This mix gives a reasonably hot result, the pepper also gives a fairly smokey flavour. Mmmmmm.... 

If you are using fine ground black pepper, you will need to reduce the amount by 1/3. Otherwise it is very hot.
 
70 Grams Course Ground Black Pepper

26 Grams Garlic Powder

50 Grams Paprika

25 Grams Salt

7 Grams Dried Origano

10 Grams Dried Parsley

Mix together

Great with Chicken, Pork, Potato Wedges or basically anything.

To use just place the food in a bowl and sprinkle sufficient powder.
I suppose you need enough to cover the food.

Then grill or barbacue. It can be fried but it burns easily and creates loads of smoke.

Home Made Chorizo

I have been messing about for the past few months with various sausage recipes. Some have been fairly successful while others turned out awful.

Last Saturday I decided to have another go. I went to the Spicy Sausage (not a person) and came across a recipe for Chorizo. http://thespicysausage.com/recipes/chorizo1.htm

I had a couple of gigot pork chops, purchased for this very purpose. What is a gigot chop anyway? I always thought it was lamb. That's what it said on the label anyway.

I cut them into bits and blitzed them in a food processor. Not too fine. Mixed in the spices, herbs, salt and the other ingredients including plenty of garlic.

Made a small patty and fried it. The result was fantastic. I was so surprised by the texture. It was exactly like a Chorizo.

I only had a fraction of the meat outlined in the recipe, so had to make adjustments to the quantities. I think I put too much salt in to though.

It was very nice indeed. I tried it with a few things. Eggs did not really work, even though you would thing they would.

I tried them with potatoes and I would have to say they are best friends.

I will definitely make it again. The next time, check it for seasoning as I go, rather then just plonking in the salt and cayenne.

I don't think I will go down the road of actually making sausages in the casings and all that. Well, not at present anyway.