Anniversary Dinner - Cherry Bourbon Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Smoked Bacon Mac and Cheese

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Smokin' in AZ

Gone but not forgotten. RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jul 13, 2019
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Chandler and Show Low Arizona
As it happens every so often our anniversary falls on thanksgiving like it did this year, so we had to do the meal a day late.

We planned this last week, and I wanted to do something on the Rec Tec, so I browsed through Jeff's recipes and found the Tenderloin and and the mac and cheese recipes. The cherry tenderloin we have done before (I have a Big Bob Gibson's BBQ book by Chris Lilly and we tried his) so we knew we liked the combo. And since so many others have been posting their mac and cheese cooks I wanted to try a smoked one to see what it was like.

So here is the bacon we started with, I want to give a shout out to sawhorseray sawhorseray for the homemade bacon he sent me home with when we got together for lunch awhile back. Thanks Ray it was fantastic!

Here it is in the skillet, notice how thick those slices are :emoji_astonished:

IMG_20191129_140756290.jpg


And here they are cooked and diced, of course there was a celebratory glass of bubbly....

IMG_20191129_145616175.jpg


Here is the Bacon Mac and Cheese prepped and ready for the smoker

IMG_20191129_151041342.jpg


And here are the pork tenderloins after doing the marinade

IMG_20191129_151708053.jpg


Here they are in the smoker, some really nice TBS going on there

IMG_20191129_163721704_MP.jpg


And the Bacon Mac and Cheese
IMG_20191129_163723937.jpg


Finished product, sorry there is some already missing, as my wife could not wait for me to get the picture before giving it a try :emoji_laughing:

IMG_20191129_181008083.jpg


And the tenderloins, which went unmolested as she was busy on the bacon mac and cheese :emoji_wink:
IMG_20191129_183920516.jpg


And sliced for plating, check out that smoke ring....

IMG_20191129_184417288.jpg


And here it it is all plated up, Cherry Pork Tenderloins, Smoked Bacon Mac and Cheese, Peas and Corn and Cherry Bourbon Compote


IMG_20191129_184630814.jpg


I have to say it was absolutely fantastic, my wife and I both cook and we try lots of recipes and rate them and these two are among the few that got 5 stars. Needless to say we will be doing this again, once we finish all the left overs. :emoji_sunglasses:

Speaking of leftovers we are going to use the Bacon Mac and Cheese and add leftover pulled pork from an earlier cook this summer that is vac sealed from the freezer per Jeff's recipe.

Here are the links to the recipes with step by step (which we followed) procedures and specific ingredients. The only thing I would do different is only do the Bacon Mac and Cheese for 2 to 2 1/2 hours instead of 3, which Jeff does say 2-3 hours so personal preference needs to be applied to this one.


Thanks for lookin'

John
 
Very nice work there. Happy anniversary to you both.
 
Damn John....that looks absolutely superb!! If ever I've seen you post something that was carousel worthy, this is it!! Great pics, great presentation, beautiful smoke ring, and a magnificent meal!! You got a big LIKE from me for that one!!

Happy anniversary my friend,
Robert
 
As it happens every so often our anniversary falls on thanksgiving like it did this year, so we had to do the meal a day late.

We planned this last week, and I wanted to do something on the Rec Tec, so I browsed through Jeff's recipes and found the Tenderloin and and the mac and cheese recipes. The cherry tenderloin we have done before (I have a Big Bob Gibson's BBQ book by Chris Lilly and we tried his) so we knew we liked the combo. And since so many others have been posting their mac and cheese cooks I wanted to try a smoked one to see what it was like.

So here is the bacon we started with, I want to give a shout out to sawhorseray sawhorseray for the homemade bacon he sent me home with when we got together for lunch awhile back. Thanks Ray it was fantastic!

Here it is in the skillet, notice how thick those slices are :emoji_astonished:

View attachment 413249

And here they are cooked and diced, of course there was a celebratory glass of bubbly....

View attachment 413251

Here is the Bacon Mac and Cheese prepped and ready for the smoker

View attachment 413253

And here are the pork tenderloins after doing the marinade

View attachment 413254

Here they are in the smoker, some really nice TBS going on there

View attachment 413256

And the Bacon Mac and Cheese
View attachment 413257

Finished product, sorry there is some already missing, as my wife could not wait for me to get the picture before giving it a try :emoji_laughing:

View attachment 413258

And the tenderloins, which went unmolested as she was busy on the bacon mac and cheese :emoji_wink:
View attachment 413261

And sliced for plating, check out that smoke ring....

View attachment 413263

And here it it is all plated up, Cherry Pork Tenderloins, Smoked Bacon Mac and Cheese, Peas and Corn and Cherry Bourbon Compote


View attachment 413265

I have to say it was absolutely fantastic, my wife and I both cook and we try lots of recipes and rate them and these two are among the few that got 5 stars. Needless to say we will be doing this again, once we finish all the left overs. :emoji_sunglasses:

Speaking of leftovers we are going to use the Bacon Mac and Cheese and add leftover pulled pork from an earlier cook this summer that is vac sealed from the freezer per Jeff's recipe.

Here are the links to the recipes with step by step (which we followed) procedures and specific ingredients. The only thing I would do different is only do the Bacon Mac and Cheese for 2 to 2 1/2 hours instead of 3, which Jeff does say 2-3 hours so personal preference needs to be applied to this one.


Thanks for lookin'

John
Very nice plate of vittles!
 
Beautiful piece of work there John, big LIKE! I guess you made it home from the mountains before getting snowed in and having to stay until spring. RAY
 
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Reactions: Smokin' in AZ
Very nice work there. Happy anniversary to you both.

Thanks Braz! :emoji_thumbsup:

Damn John....that looks absolutely superb!! If ever I've seen you post something that was carousel worthy, this is it!! Great pics, great presentation, beautiful smoke ring, and a magnificent meal!! You got a big LIKE from me for that one!!

Happy anniversary my friend,
Robert

Thanks for the Like Robert and the very kind words! We are very proud of this one for a couple of reasons...

Looks like a great meal! Congratulations! Big like.

Thanks Disco for the like! And the congrats...

Wow! Meal looks awesome! Great job and Happy Anniversary!

Thank you yankee for the like your comments.

Very nice plate of vittles!

Thank you Hawg for the like and commentary :emoji_laughing:

Oh Yeah!!
Looks like a Perfect Meal to Me!!
Nice Job John!!
Like.

Bear

Thanks for the like and kind words Bear!

Great job. What's in the glass of bubbles? Looks suspiciously like Mumm Cuvee M!

It was some Italian Champagne....

Looks awesome John! Happy anniversary

Thanks xray for the like and congrats!

John, happy anniversary to you and the mrs. looks like you had a delicous meal.

Thanks Jim for the like and the congrats! It was really good, we outdid ourselves, as we double teamed it as we often do.

Awesome meal there John!
Happy Anniversary!!
Al

Thank You Al for the like and congrats!

Beautiful piece of work there John, big LIKE! I guess you made it home from the mountains before getting snowed in and having to stay until spring. RAY

Thanks Ray for the like and funny comments....we actually talked about going up and visiting the snow for a day or two, but decided to stay in the valley.
 
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