Рецепт Pork Tenderloin & Pimento Cheese Crostini Melts
Pork tenderloin and pimento cheese, broiled together and topped with crumbled bacon. These Pork Tenderloin and Pimento Cheese Crostini Melts are one very tasty way to enjoy pimento cheese.
Southerners loooooooove their pimento cheese! Even transplanted Southerners, like me. But I have to admit ... it is one of those things I had never even heard of until I moved South. When my brother's mother-in-law ... a true Southern lady ... asked me if I liked pimento cheese, I had no earthly idea what she was talking about. I'm super glad that I do now.
And at one of our {former} local restaurants, I discovered this incredibly delicious way to enjoy pimento cheese.
Backwoods Cafe, one of my favorite local restaurants that unfortunately recently closed, introduced me to these Pork Tenderloin & Pimento Cheese Crostini Melts. That's not really what they called them ... I made that name up. 'Cause they didn't really call them anything. Not that I remember, anyway ... So I had to name them something.
But I digress.
The restaurant served each person at the table one of these at the start of the meal. Nice little complimentary appetizer, right?
Just look at all that oozy, melty pimento cheese. Yum.
When Backwoods Cafe closed, I just had to recreate these tasty little beauties at home.
So, I started with a baguette and cut it into slices about 1/2-inch thick.
I toasted one side of the baguette slices a little bit under the broiler ...
... then turned the baguette slices over and laid on a slice of cooked-and-sliced pork tenderloin.
You could use any recipe for the pork tenderloin, but I used ...
... my favorite Sweet-&-Spicy Pork Tenderloin. It's marinated in a mixture of brown sugar, chili powder, and ground cumin, which gives it a really yummy sweet/spicy flavor ... that paired just fabulously with the pimento cheese.
Next I slathered on a generous dollop of prepared pimento cheese ...
You can make your own pimento cheese or buy commercially prepared at the grocery store. If you buy it, I highly, highly, highly recommend Palmetto Cheese made by Pawley's Island Specialty Foods. It's the absolute best commercially prepared pimento cheese I've ever had. Seriously. {And they're not paying me to say that.}
Then pop it all under the broiler for a couple of minutes until the pimento cheese gets all oozy, gooey, and melty. Mmmmmm.
Finally, sprinkle it with a little bit of crumbled bacon and chopped parsley. 'Cause, you know, bacon makes everything better. And parsley makes everything pretty.
I served these delicious beauties up on my favorite cutting board ... my personalized engraved cherryBLOX chopping block! Yup, it's personalized with my blog's name ... a Christmas gift from my parents last Christmas, and I love it. And that's why The Kitchen is My Playground is proud to partner with cherryBLOX to get the word out about their product.
cherryBLOX are extra-thick, custom-engraved cherry wood cutting boards produced by a North Carolina-based family company that has specialized in wood products for nearly a century. Beautiful custom engraving makes cherryBLOX the perfect unique and personalized gift.
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Okay. So, writing this post has made me hungry. Anyone got any pork tenderloin and pimento cheese handy so I can whip up another batch of these beauties??
Pork Tenderloin & Pimento Cheese Crostini Melts
Source: A Tracey original, inspired by the former Backwoods Cafe restaurant
Ingredients
1
demi-baguette (approximately 12-inch long baguette bread loaf)
1 lb.
pork tenderloin, cooked and sliced
3/4 c.
- prepared pimento cheese (most of a 12 oz. container)
- 2
- slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 T.
finely chopped parsley
Directions
Slice the baguette into approximately 14 slices, each 1/2-inch (or a little less) thick. Place on a sheet pan or broiler pan; broil one side for about 2 minutes or until just beginning to turn lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and turn each baguette slice over on the pan.
Place a slice of pork tenderloin on top of the un-broiled side of each baguette slice. Top each pork slice with a generous dollop of pimento cheese. Broil for approximately 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven.
Sprinkle each crostini with crumbled bacon and chopped parsley.
Enjoy!
Enjoy these other delicious appetizers from The Kitchen is My Playground...
3-Ingredient Crescent Sausage Bites
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