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The main thing about this dish is carving the raw loin in a way that it can be rolled up with the stuffing inside.

The main thing about this dish is carving the raw loin in a way that it can be rolled up with the stuffing inside.

There is so much going on with this week’s dish I couldn’t fit all of the elements in the title of the column.

Well, this delicious pork loin was also wrapped in bacon and served with a pineapple and mango salsa. This dish can be prepared on a gas grill or a charcoal grill using the “indirect heat” method, but in my case I used my pellet grill.

One quick point to make is that I used a pork loin as opposed to a pork tenderloin. The pork tenderloin is much smaller, where the pork loin is a larger cut from where pork chops originate. They are also very reasonably priced, and the thing I love about pork loin is that it’s a blank culinary canvas, ready to take on any flavor you prefer. As I said, we complemented the dish with a mango and pineapple salsa.

The main thing about this dish is carving the raw loin in a way that it can be rolled up with the stuffing inside. You may want to search online for videos on how to do this, as it’s hard to explain in writing.

First, you’ll need a sharp filet knife. In terms of the technique, think of a cinnamon roll and how it is assembled. Our goal is to take the segment of the pork loin that you are smoking and carve it lengthwise in a way that results in a thinner, flatter piece of meat. Kind of like a canvas.

You do this by starting the first lengthwise cut about ¾ of an inch, and keep rolling out the loin as you cut it. You should really go online and watch a video on how to do this if you have never done it.

Once the loin is flattened out, spread your stuffing evenly on the pork, leaving about an inch or so around the border bare. If you spread the stuffing all the way to the edges you end up with stuffing coming out as you roll it.

You then roll it back up like a cinnamon roll and tie it with cotton twine about every two to three inches to keep it together while it’s being smoked. We then wrapped bacon and affixed it to the loin with toothpicks in the areas between the twine.

Before we attached the bacon we liberally seasoned the outside of the loin with pork rub. The stuffing recipe below is approximate based on how large your pork loin is.

• 1 block of Neufchâtel cream cheese — room temperature

• 2 cups of shredded gruyere cheese

• ½ cup of fresh basil — chopped

• 3 to 4 cups of fresh spinach — chopped

• 1 to 2 teaspoons of granulated garlic

• 1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

• 1 to 2 teaspoons of black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Spread on your pork loin as directed above. Roll up, tie with the twine, season with the rub and wrap in the bacon.

I smoked the loin at 250 degrees until the internal temperature of the loin was 130 degrees. Make sure your thermometer is in meat and not in the stuffing. I then turned the grill up to 350 degrees to finish it.

I pulled it at 140 degrees and let it rest for 10 minutes or so and then carved it, serving with a mango and pineapple salsa.

I’ve run out of room for the salsa recipe, but there are some great recipes online. If you have never cut a fresh mango you may want to watch an instructional video on how to do that as well.

This smoked loin was awesome. Give it a try!

Dave Lobeck is an Edward Jones Financial Adviser in Jeffersonville by day and a BBQ and food enthusiast on nights and weekends. Liz is his wife. You can contact Dave with your BBQ, cooking or grilling questions at davelobeck@gmail.com. You can also visit their YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/BBQMyWay!

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Russell "Taco" Adam Altman, 54, passed away April 19, 2022, at UPMC Montefiore. He is survived by his mother, Virginia; two brothers, Rick and Michael; and two sons, Russell and Nicholas. There will be no services.

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