What's on the Grill #197: Goat Cheese & Sage Stuffed Tenderloin
This is one of those meals where I open up the fridge and try to figure out what goes together. No recipe, no plan and as is often my case, no clue.
After playing a little bit of Sesame Street's "One of these things is not like the other...", I decided pork tenderloin, sage and goat cheese went together. Pork tenderloin, sauerkraut and peanut butter did not.
I took both of my one pound tenderloins and cut a slit in each, lengthwise, being careful not to cut all of the way through. Once sliced, I opened the tenderloins like a book. With the tenderloin spread out flat, I covered each with a piece of plastic wrap and then pounded the pork with my meat mallet. Ahhh yes, there's another errant sentence which, when taken out of context, will send me unwanted Google search traffic.
For the stuffing, I sautéed half a yellow onion and a red pepper which, once cooked, I spread over the pork. Next, I added in crumbles of goat cheese and a handful of chopped sage. Lastly, I rolled the pork and secured it with butcher twine.
Because plankin' is my thing, I placed the tenderloins on a cedar plank, rubbed them with oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. I did not soak the plank, because one, they are thick and two, I was only going to use low heat under the plank and a higher heat, indirect, away from the plank.
Now while the pork did it's thing, I turned my attention to my last bottle from Sam Adam's Barrel Room Collection, the Stony Brook Red. I've talked about my somewhat distant relationship with fruit in my beer, but wow, this was great. The tart and sweetness of the cherries hit you right up front, but then quietly faded away. This is a big beer and I'm quite bummed this was my last bottle. I need to get to Boston!
Next up, I had a choice. Goose Island's Fleur or Left Hand Brewing Company's Warrior IPA. Thanks to the help of friends on Twitter, I opted for the Warrior IPA.
The IPA was good, but not one I would return to right away. As much as I love wet hopped beers, this one had a little too much of the "I feel like I'm eating grass" thing going on. I would give it a second look, but "I'm grazing" was my first thought.
Back at the grill, the loins were done. They were small, so cooking time was only about 30 minutes. Verdict? Good. Sage & Goat Cheese are big bold flavors and a little can go along way. I didn't give measurements because I was winging it, but in the future, I think I would add more goat cheese and drop the sage a little bit. Regardless of the tweaking, it was all good and on my "do again" list. Oh yeah, the beer wasn't too bad either.
After playing a little bit of Sesame Street's "One of these things is not like the other...", I decided pork tenderloin, sage and goat cheese went together. Pork tenderloin, sauerkraut and peanut butter did not.
I took both of my one pound tenderloins and cut a slit in each, lengthwise, being careful not to cut all of the way through. Once sliced, I opened the tenderloins like a book. With the tenderloin spread out flat, I covered each with a piece of plastic wrap and then pounded the pork with my meat mallet. Ahhh yes, there's another errant sentence which, when taken out of context, will send me unwanted Google search traffic.
For the stuffing, I sautéed half a yellow onion and a red pepper which, once cooked, I spread over the pork. Next, I added in crumbles of goat cheese and a handful of chopped sage. Lastly, I rolled the pork and secured it with butcher twine.
Because plankin' is my thing, I placed the tenderloins on a cedar plank, rubbed them with oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. I did not soak the plank, because one, they are thick and two, I was only going to use low heat under the plank and a higher heat, indirect, away from the plank.
Now while the pork did it's thing, I turned my attention to my last bottle from Sam Adam's Barrel Room Collection, the Stony Brook Red. I've talked about my somewhat distant relationship with fruit in my beer, but wow, this was great. The tart and sweetness of the cherries hit you right up front, but then quietly faded away. This is a big beer and I'm quite bummed this was my last bottle. I need to get to Boston!
Next up, I had a choice. Goose Island's Fleur or Left Hand Brewing Company's Warrior IPA. Thanks to the help of friends on Twitter, I opted for the Warrior IPA.
The IPA was good, but not one I would return to right away. As much as I love wet hopped beers, this one had a little too much of the "I feel like I'm eating grass" thing going on. I would give it a second look, but "I'm grazing" was my first thought.
Back at the grill, the loins were done. They were small, so cooking time was only about 30 minutes. Verdict? Good. Sage & Goat Cheese are big bold flavors and a little can go along way. I didn't give measurements because I was winging it, but in the future, I think I would add more goat cheese and drop the sage a little bit. Regardless of the tweaking, it was all good and on my "do again" list. Oh yeah, the beer wasn't too bad either.
Mike Lang