Meat Salsa: The Results are Delicious!

Good evening everyone!  I've started to become more and more akin to using the grill for such seasonally inspired dishes, especially when the heat index tops 100 and cooking inside becomes too hot to handle.  Tonight, I'm grilling up a great flavored pork tenderloin, with a condiment that isn't normally used with pork, but it's definitely worth making it with the dish.

The Recipe:  Pancetta-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Cantaloupe-Red Pepper Salsa
Original Recipe Found In:  Cooking Light, July 2014 Issue

What You'll Need:
For the Tenderloin:

1 Pound Pork Tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
2 Ounces thinly sliced Pancetta, about six slices

For the Salsa:
1 Cup finely chopped fresh Cantaloupe
1/2 Cup finely chopped Red Bell Pepper
1/4 Cup finely chopped Red Onion
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh Mint
1 Tablespoon finely chopped, seeded Jalapeño Pepper
1 Tablespoon fresh Lime Juice
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

The night before cooking this dish, you can prepare the salsa:  in a medium mixing bowl, add the cantaloupe, red bell pepper, red onion, mint, jalapeño pepper, lime juice, and salt.  Stir to combine the ingredients thoroughly.  Keep covered and place in the refrigerator.  Take the salsa out just before serving.

Before preparing the tenderloin, preheat a grill to medium-high heat.  Place the tenderloin on a clean plate and pat dry with paper towels.  Sprinkle the pork evenly with salt and pepper.  Once seasoned, wrap the pork with the pancetta slices, making sure the slices overlap slightly.

Once the grill is heated, the tenderloin is ready to cook!  Gently place the tenderloin on the grill grates and cover.  Grill for twenty minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 145 degrees.  Turn the tenderloin every five minutes to ensure it cooks evenly and the sides begin to brown.  Once cooked, remove the pork from the grill.  Cover with a loose tent of aluminum foil for ten minutes to let the juices redistribute in the meat.  Slice the tenderloin into 1/2 inch pieces, serve with the salsa, and enjoy!

The End Result:

The pancetta adds a nice, smokey flavor to the otherwise plain tenderloin.  When you make sure to rotate the tenderloin, the pancetta gives the final result a good crust of flavor.  Pancetta is somewhat like bacon, so it's a great flavor enhancer to the overall dish.  Also, letting the tenderloin rest before slicing makes it incredibly juicy.  The salsa?  It's too bad it's a "meat salsa" because I would gobble that up as much as I could!  The sweetness from the cantaloupe balances out the spicy from the red bell pepper and red onion.  They almost cancel each other's strong hints of flavor.  But that's what makes the salsa work.  The onion and the jalapeño's flavors don't overpower the salsa either.  It's a great addition to what could be potentially a boring dish.  Overall, a great summertime grill out recipe that I give anyone a recommendation to try!

That's all we have for you tonight.  Check back tomorrow as Tyler continues his Burgers of Summer series.  Until then,

~Cheers!