Smoked Pork Tenderloin and Bleu Cheese Sauce

I love when it's my birthday, everyone else gets in the kitchen and cooks FOR ME!!!

Saturday morning, hubby and I are discussing what I want for dinner, I contemplate what's in the freezer, what will be easy for "them" to make, and then I remember a post my friend Heather over at Basilmomma made on Facebook. There wasn't even a link to it, just a quick note for a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce...



This is exactly what she posted:

I completely forgot to post my Gorgonzola Cream Sauce recipe the other day after the LONG discussion some of had about Blue Cheese! Here it is: In a medium skillet drizzle about 2 TB of olive oil and heat on low to medium heat. Add 3 minced garlic cloves and saute for about 1 minute. Add 1 1/2 C of whipping cream (this is SO not low-fat) and bring to a light boil on medium. Allow to thicken for about 4 or 5 min. then add at least 4 oz of Gorgonzola. Add more if you want it to be sharp. Season to taste with salt and fresh pepper. Great over pork medallions ans poached pears or fillet over sauteed greens :)


I have to tell you we love Bleu Cheese in this house. My daughter and I will eat an entire container of it straight, not on anything, just pull the container out of the fridge and start nibbling. We'll even fight over the last crumble.

Oh and we have a huge pork tenderloin in the freezer that hubby has been promising to smoke.                                                                        

So meal planned, we have Hot Dogs for dinner on Saturday and  on Sunday night...


Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Bleu Cheese Sauce

According to hubby, Smoking meat on the grill is an all day event (or at least many hours) and every time he does it, the meat comes out tender, juicy and flavorful so who am I to argue.

We start out with a huge pork tenderloin (we like to make a few meals out of any cut of meat.)

After removing the meat from the packaging, rinse under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
Coat with your favorite rub, this is what we use

And we've found the easiest way to coat large cuts is to put the spice on our large cutting board (it's Pampered Chef) and then put the meat on the spices.

Next step is to sear the meat, you don't want it drying out on the grill. We use our griddle for this, just makes it easier to handle and we can keep the grill temperature lower instead of having to wait for the fire to cool down.

Now off this lovely meat goes to the grill outside where hubby will tend to it for about 4 hours.

(fast forward 4 hours)

Back inside, it's almost time for the meat to come off. Hubby has already opened a can of green beans, and some new potatoes are on with butter, parsley, salt and pepper.

Time to crack open the Bleu Cheese (we have to keep this sealed until time to use, or it will somehow, magically reduce or completely disappear)

In a sauce pan,

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic

warm over medium heat, then add

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Bring to a low boil on medium heat. Allow to thicken for 4-5 minutes.

Add a minimum

4 ounces Bleu Cheese

We added almost the entire container up front but left a few crumbles out till just before serving for texture.

Salt and pepper to taste. We let it simmer for about 5 minutes more and with the cheese added, it thickened a bit more.

Back to the pork Tenderloin, after removing from the grill, let it rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

The pork tenderloin and the Bleu Cheese sauce complemented each other perfectly, and as I had to tell Heather, it was sooooo good! We put it on the potatoes, let the green beans run into it, we were even using our fingers to get the last drops off the plate.

We also had some delicious Cheddar and Green Onion Bread that I found over at Mia's Domain

And my girls made me a yummy cake. I supervised, so I take all the blame for it sticking to the pan.

It happens to the best bakers, and who cares how it looks,

it's how it tastes that matters (you can always make it pretty next time)

We all had our slice after dinner.....


Then I had another slice in bed last night...

and...

hubby had a large slice for breakfast!


The best birthday dinner ever!