The BBQ General

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June 05, 2006

Leftover pork tenderloin and Cuban sandwiches

What do you do with 20 already cooked pork tenderloins? They were left over from a party and they were oven baked.

The General thought they could use a little bit more flavor...and of course some smoke from the grill. TLW and I went to the market and bought a gallon of Mojo...a Spanish/Cuban marinade. I marinated them for 24 hours and then lit the grill for indirect cooking.

I let them smoke for a couple of hours to get a little smoke penetration...and I must say the flavor profile was there! However, pork tenderloin is a very delicate cut of meat and we all thought that they were a tad dry.

This whole exercise was about making Cuban sandwiches and the meat is certainly usable for that!

Here is the spec on a Cuban sandwich.

4 oz. roast pork, sliced
4 oz. ham, sliced
Yellow mustard
Swiss cheese
Bread and butter pickles
Some good crusty Cuban bread (or French)

Here is the best use I have found for a George Foreman type grill:
After you have assembled the sandwich, spray the top and bottom of the bread with spray margarine and crank up the George Forman or a sandwich press.
Toast for about 5 minutes and you've got yourself one serious Cuban sandwich.

A couple of serious sides that can go with your sandwich would be black beans and/or black beans and rice with diced onions on top or a partially baked sweet potato cut into medallions, grilled and basted with a mixture of butter and maple syrup. Another side you might want to experiment with if it is available in your area would be grilled plantains. Now you have a very authentic Cuban meal.

OK...so now The General wants to know what you would do with the 20 leftover tenderloins????