Smoked Pork Wellington

I had no idea how to go about this, so it was an absolute experiment. I knew pork was used for Wellington and since I’d made one from beef I was comfortable with the process – and I remember the mistakes I made with it. I could have made it from a raw piece of pork loin, but I wanted the added dimension of smoked pork, but I had no idea how done to cook it in the smoker to keep it from overcooking as the pastry cooks in the oven.

I decided to smoke it to the bare minimum of 142* and hope for the best. My assumption was that for the beef, it went from room temperature to 125* while the pastry baked, so the pork, would hopefully not go past 140*, starting at room temperature.

I considered stuffing it prior to smoking, but decided to smoke then stuff and I just took a wild stab at a combination. I cut three pockets into the roast from opposite sides and stuffed in some Boursin cheese – no way that can be a bad idea. I did pockets rather than full length slices to prevent the cheese for exiting the ends.

Then I brushed a coat of Fischer & Weiser’s Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce on both the pastry and the meat

and rolled it very tightly in hopes the Boursin would stay put - I made sure I kept the pockets in the horizontal position while it baked and I cut the vents in the top that I forgot last time.

This is just out of the oven.

And this is just after the soggy bottom broke and I did't have a good enogh hold on it.

 And this is my plate with the side of stir fried asparagus.

Before the main course, Bev served this salad from a magazine recipe from - it's lettuce, oranges, apples, a citrusy viniagrette and crumbled blue cheese on top.

I have to say this experiment was a failure, but not a complete loss - we had a filling meal and the salad was good.  Plus I learned several things:

1. Boursin will not stay in place at the high temps.
2. Even on a rack and with vents, it can still get a soggy bottom - maybe the cheese did it.
3. Puffed pastry cannot be cooked above 350* in our oven.
4. Don't try this with fully cooked meat unless you prefer it well done.
5. Always use a spatula plus tongs when transferring to the cutting board.
6. Next time I want Wellington, go to a restaurant - it's not worth the effort to me :-).

A nice thing about cooking experiments is you learn something and can still eat the failures.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry