Smoked Pork Tenderloin Mummy for Man Food Mondays

Yes, I do know that it is not Monday, but the man behind Man Food Mondays has been really sick, but he did manage to help me cook this:

Just in time for Halloween night dinner.

I have seen this on the web for a few years and have cooked it a time or two with Michelle.  Just a little back ground to set this up.

Question: Did you ever live in a neighborhood that had the house that as a kid you were afraid to go Trick or Treat at?

Answer:  that’s my house!

I am the guy in the neighborhood that spends all year thinking of how to scare small children on Halloween!  The house motto is “There is no higher calling than to scare small children on Halloween.”  I have instilled this in my wife Michelle albeit she is reluctant.  My daughter sends me pictures of how she and my grand son’s are starting their version of scaring ToT’s (Trick or Treater’s).  I am passing the torch as we speak.

So since Michelle likes to cook we have been creating “scary food” to have a the family Halloween party.  This year we are having this pork tenderloin dressed as a mummy.  And it is very scary!  By this I mean it quick to make “scary “ quick so much so that I had to stop and calibrate my meat thermometer to make sure it was reading right.  Now to make a point a pork tenderloin is not a pork loin. The tenderloin is a small piece of meat and the pork loin is a rather large piece of meat.  At the grocery store you will find it prepackaged 2 to a pack.  The pork loin is not packaged this way.  The pork tenderloin in question here was around 3 lbs for both (1 package).  This offering is focused on the one we used for the mummy.  The other one I will post later in November.  I will give you the outline recipe for the marinade and the method for grilling, Michelle will talk about the embalming and wrapping!  Muhahahahahaha……Sorry <grin> no embalming.

 

So to start you will need:

2 tbs honey

½ cup of apple juice

4 cloves of garlic sliced

kosher salt

crushed black pepper

Charcoal and apple wood

In a small sauce pan warm the honey and apple juice stir until well blended set aside and let cool.  Slice the 4 cloves of garlic about 1/8 inch thick.  Use a sheet of plastic wrap that is about 5 inches longer that your pork tenderloin and spread it on the counter, you will wrap the tenderloin in it when you are done to place it in the fridge.  Remove the tenderloin from the store packaging, rinse and pat dry. Lay it on the plastic wrap using  a sharp knife cut small slits in the tenderloin and inset the garlic slices at equal intervals on all sides. Then using a basting brush coat all sided of the tenderloin with the honey apple juice mixture. Salt and Pepper all sides and tightly wrap the tenderloin in the plastic and place in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours.  About ½ hour before you want to start cooking go and assemble your smoker.  Once the coals are turning gray go ahead and place the apple wood in the coals and let it start to get smoky.  Monitor the temperature trying to maintain around 225° to 250°.  when you are satisfied that the temp is holding true place your pork tenderloin on the grill with your instant read probe inserted.  Now this is where it got scary.  The tenderloin was ready in around 45 minutes….really REALLY quick!  So quick that I pulled the digital probes and tested them in Boiling water to be sure they were reading right.  They were!  So I pulled the tenderloin from the grill and allowed it to cool for the wrapping faze of the meal.

From Michelle: 

The mustard  sauce and mummification come from a Taste of Home recipe.  I have made it before without changing the pork as we did here, so if you don’t want to smoke the pork, their recipe as-is is really good.

10 sheets filo dough (less than one half package)

6 Tbsps. butter, melted

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup country Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 apple for the head

 

Stir together cream and mustard in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until thickened.  Stir in thyme and set aside.

Filo dough is something that can be difficult to work with.  The key is to keep it from drying out without getting it wet.  I cover mine with a damp paper towel knowing that I might lose the top sheet to moisture.  On a cookie sheet lined with parchment, lay one sheet of filo, brush with butter and repeat with three more sheets on top of the first.  Place the tender loin near one edge of the filo and top with about 1/4 cup of the mustard sauce, reserving the remainder for serving.  Roll up and tuck ends under

On a cutting board, place one sheet of filo and brush with butter.  Repeat with two more sheets on top of the first.  Using a sharp knife, cut filo into long strips and wrap them around the already covered tenderloin to look like bandages.

Peel the apple.  On a cutting board, place one sheet of filo and brush with butter.  Repeat with two more sheets on top of the first.  Use about half of this to cover the apple and cut the remaining into long strips to wrap around the apple like bandages.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve with reserved mustard sauce and mashed potato ghosts if desired.

This is a fun meal and with the addition of mashed potato ghosties it was pretty darn cute. The tenderloin was very good and as I said it was pretty quick to cook.

So until next week…..Happy Haunting!

 

Steve