Albuquerque Grilled Pork Tenderloin, but not Ross's, I'm afraid

Theophan

@Ross in Ventura  posted an incredibly yummy looking cook, and it made my mouth water, and I saved the link to the recipe.  As I read the recipe, though, there was something wrong with it.  The instructions said, “… Add the molasses and vinegar, stir well…” but the ingredients had no molasses and no vinegar, and they had “sherry wine” that the instructions didn’t mention.  I’ve seen a bunch of Ross’s cooks, over the years, and he’s way ahead of me as a grillmaster, but not knowing for sure what he did, I looked around and found what looks like the same recipe with identical instructions but an ingredient list that matches the instructions.  It calls for “sherry wine vinegar” instead of "sherry wine" (pretty huge difference), and a quarter cup of molasses that was absent from the other recipe.  So I made it tonight.

First, the “Albuquerque Rub”  smells spectacular!  A lot like chili powder, but ramped up with toasted coriander and cumin, some mexican oregano, garlic and onion powder, salt and black pepper.  As I packed it on, I was sure this was going to be amazing.  Then I made the "mop" sauce, and it was really good, but I couldn't quite picture what the sort of tangy molasses flavor was going to be like with that Albuquerque rub.

I grilled it direct at 400-450, flipping and mopping every 5 minutes for a little more than 15 minutes, I think.  I let a little too much time go by after the internal temp was about 120 or so, and was frustrated that it was over 150 when I probed it again.  But it was still really good, and as you'll see in a picture below, still a tiny bit pink.

But I'm hoping @Ross in Ventura will read this and comment on what I did and what he did, because it was really good, but less wonderful than I had hoped, and I bet Ross's was better, and he used a very slightly different recipe.  I think the mop sauce sort of "un-did" that wonderful rub a bit.  It was much less prominent than I had expected.  I'm thinking I might make it again with a tad more salt in the rub, and maybe do one tenderloin with the mop and one without and see.  It was really good, but that rub smelled SO good, I guess I was expecting amazing, and what I got was good, but not amazing.

Legume

Looks damn good from here, that rub sounds interesting.

Theophan

Legume said:

Looks damn good from here, that rub sounds interesting.

The rub smelled WONDERFUL, and I was really surprised that the finished dish was good but not amazing.  I think I might try the rub alone, sometime.

Ross in Ventura

Theophan said:

Legume said:

Looks damn good from here, that rub sounds interesting.

The rub smelled WONDERFUL, and I was really surprised that the finished dish was good but not amazing.  I think I might try the rub alone, sometime.

Well I do not remember what I did that was almost a year ago. maybe I gave the wrong recipe. Try it with the rub only.

Ross 

Theophan

Ross in Ventura said:

Theophan said:

Legume said:

Looks damn good from here, that rub sounds interesting.

The rub smelled WONDERFUL, and I was really surprised that the finished dish was good but not amazing.  I think I might try the rub alone, sometime.

Well I do not remember what I did that was almost a year ago. maybe I gave the wrong recipe. Try it with the rub only.

Ross 

Thanks for the reply!  I've loved seeing gorgeous photos of many of your cooks, over the years!

I was surprised -- my wife this morning said she LOVED the pork, last night, thought it was absolutely wonderful, tender, juicy, wonderful flavor on the outside.  Maybe I was just too set on how wonderful that rub smelled, and when the final product with the rub plus the mop was really different, I was a little disappointed.  I'll see what I think about the leftovers.  I definitely think I'll try it without the mop another time and see what I think.

Thanks again! 

Ross in Ventura

Theophan said:

Ross in Ventura said:

Theophan said:

Legume said:

Looks damn good from here, that rub sounds interesting.

The rub smelled WONDERFUL, and I was really surprised that the finished dish was good but not amazing.  I think I might try the rub alone, sometime.

Well I do not remember what I did that was almost a year ago. maybe I gave the wrong recipe. Try it with the rub only.

Ross 

Thanks for the reply!  I've loved seeing gorgeous photos of many of your cooks, over the years!

I was surprised -- my wife this morning said she LOVED the pork, last night, thought it was absolutely wonderful, tender, juicy, wonderful flavor on the outside.  Maybe I was just too set on how wonderful that rub smelled, and when the final product with the rub plus the mop was really different, I was a little disappointed.  I'll see what I think about the leftovers.  I definitely think I'll try it without the mop another time and see what I think.

Thanks again! 

Thanks try it that way and see if that's what you are looking for

Ross

Ross in Ventura

I Found the recipe for the pork loin and it's wonderful

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/2310345-Albuquerque-Grilled-Pork-Tenderloin

Ross

Theophan

Ross in Ventura said:

I Found the recipe for the pork loin and it's wonderful

http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/2310345-Albuquerque-Grilled-Pork-Tenderloin

Ross

That's exactly the recipe I used (different web site, same ingredients and instructions)!  The one you originally linked to must not have been the one you followed, because it didn't have molasses or sherry vinegar in the ingredients list, just the directions, which didn't specify quantity.  If this one is the one you followed, then I did make it the same (except that mine was a little overcooked, though my wife actually prefers it that way).

I think maybe I was just too focused on it tasting like the rub smelled, which was SO good, and the mop made it a little different than I had my mouth set for.  My wife said she thought it was wonderful.  I'm going to try the leftovers tomorrow -- I'll be interested to taste it again.

Thanks for checking on that recipe, and I'm glad I actually did use the recipe you used.