We recently visited some friends in Atlanta who introduced us to a “smoked fatty”. It was made with pork sausage, jalepenos and cheese and wrapped in a bacon weave. It was smoked for an hour or so. Jay and I couldn’t get over the flavor of this delicious meat.
Here is my twist on this smoked fatty. I made it with pork tenderloin instead of pork sausage. I added onion, garlic and roasted red pepper to Brian’s recipe of jalepeno and cheese.
Prep 15 min Cook 1 hour 30 minutes Makes 7+ servings
Ingredients
1 – 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin
12 oz package of bacon
2 Tbps of olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 cup of yellow onion, chopped
2 jalepeno peppers, diced (remove seeds if you don’t like it hot)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
1 jar of roasted red peppers, drained
Slice the pork tenderloin horizontally, but not all the way through. Open up the tenderloin and spread flat. Pound the meat to 1/2 inch thickness. Set aside.
To weave the bacon, begin by placing a large sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Next, lay seven slices of bacon, side-by-side, horizontally. Lift up and fold back the ends of every other slice of bacon. Place a vertical slice of bacon over the horizontal rows that have not been folded back. Then straighten out the folded bacon and repeat with the alternate row until all bacon is weaved.
Place the tenderloin in the center of the bacon weave. Brush with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Layer onion, jalepenos, garlic, mozzarella and red peppers. Using the parchment paper as a tool, roll the tenderloin into a log. Carefully remove the parchment paper and transfer the pork to a wire rack for cooking.
To smoke:
Heat the smoker, according to directions, with soaked hickory wood chips. When the temperature stabilizes at 300 degrees, place the tenderloin in the center of the smoker. Cover and let the pork smoke for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. (Check the temperature periodically with a meat thermometer. Remove from heat at 165 degrees)
Allow the pork to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
To bake:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Place the tenderloin on a baking sheet in the center of the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. Let the tenderloin rest for 20 minutes before slicing.