Double Stuff

Remember when you first discovered the double stuffed oreo? Or perhaps more recently, when a friend first introduced your innocent little mind to the McGangBang? (http://tinyurl.com/a2dmlc) You probably heard the critics, stating the "too much icing" or "disgusting amount of meat". But as a proponent of all forms of delicious, you stayed true to your palate, and argued that too much of a good thing can be even better.

Well my friends, I accidentally stumbled upon my own gourmet, pork-inspired rendition of the double stuff Oreo.
With full intention of stuffing two individual pork tenderloins, I lacked the meat span (if that even makes sense) to close the tenderloins up. A friend who I have recently shared a few amazing meals with suggested I make a sandwich-like creation and wrap the two tenderloins together, with all the stuff inside.



It couldn't have turned out better.

Here's what I used:
- Two pork tenderloins
- Bacon (a half pound to stuff with, and a half pound to eat as you cook and drink a few too many cocktails)
- A bunch of green onions
- Goat cheese (sorry Dan, I know you have a hate on for Goat cheese, but it's delicious)
- Salt & Pepper (as with pretty much any recipe)

Now for how to wrap it all into one delicious creation.
Pull the pork out, let it rest a bit at room temperature and trim the little bit of fat off. In each tenderloin, cut a slit lengthwise to open it up, but not all the way through, making it a flatter more easily stuffable piece. This technique is called "butterflying" but I think they should change it to "lipping" because it looks more like a pair of lips than a beautiful little butterfly.

While it's resting, slice up some bacon into 1 or two inch long pieces and fry it all up. Discard most of the fat and add in a few spoonfuls of goat's cheese once the bacon is cooked to soften it. Cut up a few green onions and mentally prepare yourself for the party that is about to happen on your cutting board.

Salt and pepper each tenderloin, inside and out. Add some goat cheese & bacon mixture to the area where you made the cut in the pork and top with a fair portion of green onions. Do it for both tenderloins, and then bind them together. Use your butcher skills to tie them together with some twine.

Set your oven to 350. Poor a bit of that bacon fat into a roasting pan, and drop your creation onto the pan. I lost track of time when I cooked it but roughly 30 minutes should do. The bacon fat will keep constant heat on the bottom and if you're quick enough with the stuffing, the still-hot bacon on the inside will help get some even heat distribution too.
Don't you dare overcook that shit! People have bad opinions about pork because of that old school thinking that it is dangerous to eat if not totally overcooked. You're not working with chicken here and health standards have improved since World War II... Medium is a totally acceptable way to serve pork.

I was planning on serving this with some fruit salsa (chopped pineapple, peaches and cilantro) but the pork so tasty on its own that we made the salsa our desert. Serve it with some in-season vegetables or a simple salad and you're money.

-dave