Recipes: Pickled Deviled Eggs with Beets and Tea-Brined Pork

Tea-brined pork tenderloin is a nod to Southerners' love of sweet tea.

The Blistered Pig and Peak City Grill are no longer open in Apex, but if you’re missing the restaurants’ imaginative Southern fare, you can recreate a couple of their dishes at home.

The pickled deviled eggs add a bright touch to a spring table, and tea-brined pork uses a Southern staple – sweet tea – as part of a traditional method of infusing flavor in lean cuts of meat.

Here are the recipes for both!

Pickled deviled eggs with beets

Pickled Deviled Eggs with Beets

Serves 12

For the pickled beets:

2 tablespoons oil

6 medium beets, washed

1 sprig rosemary

1 large red onion, sliced

1 cup white vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl toss oil, beets and rosemary together. Place into a foil pouch and roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until fork tender.

Peel and quarter the roasted beets. Place in jars or other air-tight containers with the onion. In a small pot boil the vinegar, salt, sugar and water and pour over the beets. Tightly lid the jars and place in the refrigerator overnight.

For the eggs:

6 eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish

1/8 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place eggs in a single layer in saucepan and cover with enough cold water so there is 1 1/2 inches of water above the eggs. Heat on high until water begins to boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and place eggs in a bowl of ice water. Peel immediately, removing one at a time from water, and replacing eggs back into ice water when peeled. Cool completely, about 20 minutes in the ice water.

Remove eggs from ice water and place in bowl. Remove enough pickling liquid from beets to cover eggs. Place eggs in beet pickling liquid and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Remove eggs from liquid and gently dry with paper towels.

Slice the eggs in half lengthwise, removing yolks to a medium bowl, and placing the pickled whites on a platter. Mash the yolks into a fine crumble using a fork. Add mayonnaise, onion, sweet relish, mustard, salt and pepper, and mix well. Scoop heaping teaspoons of the yolk mixture into the pickled egg whites. Serve with pickled beets.

Tea-Brined Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4 to 8

¼ cup kosher salt

¾ cup sugar

2 family size or 8 regular size black tea bags

2 cups boiling water

3 cups ice cubes

1 or 2 pork tenderloins, 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds each

Fresh ground black pepper

Combine the salt, sugar and tea bags in a heat-proof bowl. Pour in the boiling water, and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Let steep for 10 minutes. Add the ice and stir to cool.

Add the pork, cover the bowl, and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours. Do not brine longer or the pork will be too salty. Remove the pork from the brine, rinse well, and pat dry with paper towels.

To cook, season with ground black pepper and grill tenderloin on medium heat, turning it every 3 to 5 minutes, until the internal temperature reads 145 degrees F, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove the pork from the grill and let rest on a plate for 10 to 15 minutes. This settles the internal juices and allows meat to stay juicy after slicing. Slice and transfer to a serving platter.

 

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