So every year at back to school time I try to right the ship as far as eating is concerned. I tend to eat and drink a lot of carbohydrates during the summer time which causes a significant weight gain. Usually getting back to reasonable portions and cutting back on the carbs helps me lose that weight. So a lot of lean meats work their way into my diet which caused me to thaw a pork tenderloin. Since I have about 5 cream cheese containers currently opened in my fridge (bagel breakfasts with friends... See those damn carbs). I decided to make an ABT filled pork tenderloin. So I started with the equivalent of 2-3 pieces of bacon which was already chopped up from one of my batches of bacon. For those started in my little cast iron pan:
I know bacon is not the leanest meat, but hey I am trying. When that was rendered a little bit I added some diced jalapeño:
While that was cooking I mixed together half a cup of chive and onion cream cheese and have a cup of Mexican blend cheese:
Bacon and jalapeños are to my liking:
So I mixed those with the cheeses:
Butterflied the tenderloin and spread the cheese mixture all over it:
Tied it up and seasoned it with SPOG.
And now for the big let down... I cooked it in the oven... The horror! Haha just felt like something not smoked after a busy summer of outdoor cooking. Roasted it in the over at around 425. Pulled it at 140 and let it rest about ten minutes:
My tying could have been better to avoid some of the filling seeping out but here are some shots of the finished project:
The verdict... This was great! I love ABTs and I love meat, so this is the best of both worlds. The filling was creamy, spicy, and flavorful, the pork was moist and tender. I will definitely do this again maybe even with some chicken thighs or breasts when I am looking for a lower carb meal. Sure it probably would have been better smoke but I just needed a break from it. Well thanks for looking!
-Chris
I know bacon is not the leanest meat, but hey I am trying. When that was rendered a little bit I added some diced jalapeño:
While that was cooking I mixed together half a cup of chive and onion cream cheese and have a cup of Mexican blend cheese:
Bacon and jalapeños are to my liking:
So I mixed those with the cheeses:
Butterflied the tenderloin and spread the cheese mixture all over it:
Tied it up and seasoned it with SPOG.
And now for the big let down... I cooked it in the oven... The horror! Haha just felt like something not smoked after a busy summer of outdoor cooking. Roasted it in the over at around 425. Pulled it at 140 and let it rest about ten minutes:
My tying could have been better to avoid some of the filling seeping out but here are some shots of the finished project:
The verdict... This was great! I love ABTs and I love meat, so this is the best of both worlds. The filling was creamy, spicy, and flavorful, the pork was moist and tender. I will definitely do this again maybe even with some chicken thighs or breasts when I am looking for a lower carb meal. Sure it probably would have been better smoke but I just needed a break from it. Well thanks for looking!
-Chris