Pork Loin With A Rub Mustard And Bacon
Serves 6
What a great way to start fall with lots of my favorite flavors here, pork, bourbon, mustard, brown sugar, and bacon – how could this be wrong?
You’ll Need:
1 center-cut piece or pork loin (2-1/2 to 3 pounds)
3 TLBS Tennessee whiskey
2 TLBS of rub (see below), or your favorite barbecue rub
4 TLBS Dijon mustard
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 slices bacon
Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)
Butcher’s string
2 cups of wood chips or chunks (preferably hickory), soaked for 1 hour in water to cover, then drained
Rub: Yield: 2 cups
½ cup coarse salt (kosher or sea)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sweet paprika
Glaze:
3 TLBS salted butter
3 TLBS brown sugar
3 TLBS Dijon mustard
3 TLBS Tennessee whiskey
Here’s What To Do:
Make the rub: Place the salt, sugar, pepper, and paprika in a bowl and stir to mix. (Actually, your fingers work better for mixing a rub than a spoon or whisk.) Store the rub in an airtight jar away from heat or light; it will keep for at least 6 months.
Make the glaze: Combine the butter, brown sugar, mustard, and whiskey in a saucepan and boil until syrupy, 4 to 6 minutes. Set the glaze aside.
Using a very sharp knife, cut the roast almost in half lengthwise through one side (stop about 1 inch from the opposite side). Open the roast up as you would a book. Sprinkle the inside of the roast with 1 tablespoon of the whiskey and let it marinate for 5 minutes. Using a spatula spread the mustard over both sides of the roast then sprinkle one half with a third of the rub the rub and one half with the brown sugar on top of the mustard. Sprinkle the remaining 2 TLBS of whiskey on top of the brown sugar. Fold the roast back together (like closing a book) and sprinkle the remaining rub over the outside.
Cut four 12-inch pieces of butcher’s string. Position the pieces of string on the work surface so that they are parallel and roughly 2 inches apart. Place a slice of bacon across the strings so that it is perpendicular to and in the center of them. Set the roast on top of the bacon, positioning its long side parallel to the bacon. Place a slice of bacon on top of the roast. Press the remaining 2 slices against the long sides of the roast. Tie each piece of string together around the roast so that they hold the slices of bacon against it. (To temporarily hold the bacon slices in place until you can secure them with string, you can pin them with toothpicks. Remove the toothpicks once the roast is tied.) Set the pork roast aside.
Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium. If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch, and run the grill on high until you see smoke; then reduce the heat to medium. If using a charcoal grill, place a large drip pan in the center, preheat the grill to medium..
When ready to cook, place the pork roast on the hot grate, over the drip pan and away from the heat, toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals and cover the grill. Cook the roast until cooked through, 1 to 1-1/4 hours. Use your instant-read meat thermometer to test for doneness, by inserting into the center of the roast: internal temperature should be about 155 degrees F. Remove and cover well, the roast will then forward cook to 160° Start basting the roast with the glaze after 30 minutes, and continue basting every 15 minutes. If you are using a charcoal grill and the pork is not done after 1 hour, you may need to add a few more coals to each side.
Transfer the cooked roast to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes, then remove and discard the strings. Slice the roast crosswise and drizzle any remaining glaze over it.
Woody’s custom barbecue sauce yield: 3 cups
I’m a real fan of the Sweet Baby Ray’s bottled barbecue sauce but to make it work better with this recipe I’d punch it up a bit as follows:
3 cups of Sweet Baby Ray’s regular or brown sugar version barbecue sauce
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
6 to 8 TLBS fresh lemon juice (from 3 to 4 lemons)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan and whisk to mix. Let the sauce gradually come to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until thick and flavorful, 8 to 10 minutes.
What Goes With What Wines Selections
Castoro Cellars Zinfandel Paso Robles 2005 (Zinfandel)
You will find a hint of jamminess and typical Zinfandel fruit with slight raisin and spice notes that gol well with the mustard and sauce. $11.99
http://www.castorocellars.com