Vargr
Vargr
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Piggy Pops
Smoked pork “lollipops†wrapped in bacon. This is as close to “pork candy†as wuff has tasted! Irresistible! Addictive! Probably illegal, its so tasty!
These are so good, they're almost pornographic! *chuckles* A candy-sweet start of maple and brown sugar, supported with a warm, savory foundation of cumin, chili, garlic, and soy. Complex notes from cinnamon, and Ponzu and Worcestershire sauces. And just a little amount of “heat†from a bit of cayenne to add zest.
Vargr experimented with Pork in two forms: Shoulder Picnic roast, and loin chops, both boneless. Also with 3 types of bacon: Black forest (sweet and smokey), Apple Wood (fruity smoke, not as sweet), and Maple (sweetest, but not as smokey).
The Shoulder has much stronger pork flavor, but a little tougher meat and somewhat harder to prep and cut into the cubes. The Loin was tender, leaner, and lighter in flavor, and much easier to work with.
The Maple bacon flavor married with the marinade, and became very prominent. The Apple Wood and Black Forest were more understated, and hard to tell apart under the powerful marinade flavors.
The bottom line: EVERY combination was FANTASTIC. Vargr's “review team†(roomie and co-workers) loved every one of them, and the decision was split as to “best†with no clear winner. But the dozen “pops†wuff brought in to taste test vanished in under 5 minutes, and they begged for more!
Ingredients:
2.5 lb boneless pork loin chops
1.5 lb boneless pork shoulder picnic roast
- (Or 4 lbs of either one alone)
~1.5 lb thick cut Bacon (Black Forest, Apple Wood smoked, Maple - your choice)
Bamboo “kabob†skewers (cut in half on the diagonal)
(NOTE – This made roughly 30 “popsâ€. ~Half that many would be nice appetizers for 8 people (2 a piece.)
For the Marinade:
(For 2 lbs of meat. Double it for the amount of meat listed above.)
1 C hot Water
½ C pure Maple Syrup
3 Tbs Cider Vinegar
2 Tbs Brown Sugar
2 tsp ground Cumin
2 tsp Ancho Chili powder
1.5 tsp granulated Garlic
1 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Omnivore Salt
1 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 zip-top 1 gallon bags
Directions:
Make the marinade:
Mix all marinade ingredients together in a pot, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil a couple minutes to let flavors meld and sugars dissolve and mix.
Turn off heat and allow marinade to cool while cutting meat.
Prep and marinade the meat:
Cut meat into approx. 2 – 3 inch cubes.
Put loin chunks in one bag, shoulder chunks in the other. Split marinade between the two bags. Squeeze out air, zip tops closed, and 'massage' meat for a few seconds to make sure every piece is in contact w/marinade on all side.
Refrigerate overnight, flipping and 'massaging' pork every couple hours or so while you're awake, to make sure marinade gets evenly to all pieces.
Assemble:
Drain and reserve the marinade to make the baste/glaze.
Wrap a piece of bacon around a chunk of pork until the ends overlap slightly. Cut off the extra bacon (you will use it later). Push the skewer through from the overlapped part to the bottom, letting the end stick out a bit to hold the bacon on.
With the extra pieces of bacon, wrap a short piece half way around a chunk of pork. Wrap another piece the rest of the way around, overlapping at both ends. Push the skewer through so that it pierces through both overlapped parts on top and bottom of the pork chunk.
Cook:
Smoke @ 225 degrees F until internal temperature hits ~135 degrees; approx 2 hours. (Yes, this is less than recommended pork temp of 145. Grilling in next step will take care of this.)
While pops are smoking, boil down reserved marinade until reduced by about 1/3-1/2 and thickened.
When Pops are reach medium rare (135 degrees), remove from smoker. Dunk each pop in pot of warm glaze. Lift just out of glaze and spin to sling off extra glaze. Grill bacon side down over very high heat (or oven broil with rack at top setting) the pig pops about 3 minutes. Flip over to the other bacon side and grill (or broil) another 3 minutes. Glaze should char a bit and caramelize. Edges of the bacon should crisp slightly.
Serve warm or at room temperature.Attachment: Pig Pops (2).jpg (Downloaded 5 times)
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