Time to eat then blow things up!

Post for: July 4, 2008

Mira (a.k.a Miranda) took this immediately after a rain shower this morning. She has such an eye for beautiful things.

The beans had soaked overnight and were ready for the fat bacon and to be slow cooked to their tender taste. Time to soak the corn as well, and baste the 7 pound pork tenderloin. Wow! It was a doozy!

I realize there a million ways to baste and grill a tenderloin; even one this size, but I took my grandmother's tips along with a short cut and it worked really well for us today.


Orange Marmalade Pork Tenderloin

• 5-7 lbs. pork tenderloin


• McCormick's Grill Mates® Pork Rub - it basically has all the ingredients that my grandmother used and as I now have access to these wonderful items at the grocery, I figured I should make use of them. ;)


• 1 Jar Orange Marmalade - we really like Smucker's, but not necessary


• Basting Brush


• Meat Thermometer - very important when cooking pork!


• Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil - juices will run heavy and you don't want to burn the pork.

Pre-heat grill to a very low heat: around 250 degrees if possible. Slow cooking insures juiciness.

After taking the tenderloin out of the plastic wrapper, you will want to rinse it off and pat it dry. Start adding the Grill Mates rub. If it doesn't want to stick, add just a small portion of olive oil to the loin first, then rub away. Once the loin is covered, wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil and place on the top wrack of your grill. Watch and turn for about an hour.

Take the loin off, open up the foil and baste the loin with 1 entire jar of orange marmalade. I know. It sounds like a lot, but it is soooo good. And it soaks into the meat for a nice, tender, taste.



You can now raise the temperature of the grill to 400 degrees.

Re-wrap in the foil and place on the grill for about 15 minutes, flipping the loin halfway.

You also have the option of placing the loin straight on the grill. The sugar in the marmalade will crystallize and form a brown glaze over the outside of the loin. I have found I lose the taste of the marmalade this way and so we opt to keep it wrapped. Choice is yours.

Check the temp. of the loin with your meat thermometer quite often at this point. You want to take it off at around 140-145 degrees. The loin will continue to cook after you take it off the grill and there is nothing worse than dry pork. Ugh! I guess maybe dry chicken. Ha!

Voila! There you have it. Simple and yet so yummy!

I also cut and added baby red potatoes and peaches and cream corn cobs to my bean pot while all of this was going on. I have poured the buttermilk into the cornmeal mix and pre-heated my cast iron skillet. Cornbread will be out in 25 minutes. Let's eat!

Bellies are full and the time is about right for fireworks. Miss Winnie and the puppies were not fond of the booms and bangs, but they lived through it. And, Lil Sasha seemed to enjoy her ear of corn. So cute!



Afterward we rode out on the 4-wheelers to the field that overlooks the lights in the valley below. We watched other firework displays for a few minutes before the rains came. Ack! We were soaked by the time we made it back to the cabin. But it was a fun day! Lots of laughs!