GrillinFools
I love, Love, LOVE tacos! Do you know what bugs me about Tacos? The hashtag #TacoTuesday. As if we’re only allowed to have tacos one day a week. Tacos should be eaten on whatever day you like. Last week, my 6-year-old, missing his two bottom front teeth (and now with a pronounced lisp) was ecstatic to have Thaco Thursday. To help break the taco out of its Tuesday prison, I’m here to share a phenomenal taco recipe that I encourage you to prepare on whatever day you wish. Scroll down to see step by step, picture by picture, foolproof grilling instructions for Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream.
Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream Ingredients:
- 2 pork tenderloins, tethered together
- Olive oil
- Your favorite chili pepper seasoning (ancho or chipotle or whatever) – we used a McCormick product
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 cup sour cream
- Juice from 1.5 limes, divided
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped fine
- 1 ear of corn
- 1/2 red pepper, chopped
- 1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup purple cabbage, shredded
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- Fajita shells
- More olive oil
- Shredded cheese
Did I mention there’s also a roasted corn relish in this? I didn’t? Oh, that’s because Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream and a Roasted Corn relish is a reeeaallllyyy long title.
Pork Tenderloin Prep
Truss me here
To start, we need to truss to pork tenderloins together, fat end to skinny and vice versa. We do this for two reasons.
1) By tying them together, they insulate each other and allow for more time to infuse the pork with smoke before they are done.
2) Fat end to skinny allows for the pork to cook evenly and not have the skinny ends dry out before the fat ends are cooked through.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
Next up, get out some bakers twine and truss those bad boys together:
Tis the season for the seasoning
Now time to get them seasoned. Before we can season, we need to add some olive oil to help the BBQ Rub stick as well as to give the pork tenderloin some great color later on:
Then hit it with the BBQ Rub:
Lay the rub on thick
We will be slicing it across the grain and the ratio of rub to meat will be pretty low for the rub. I’ll show you in a second once we get these tenderloins reverse seared.
Also add some salt and black pepper.
How to Grill Pork Tenderloin
Place the trussed, oiled and seasoned pork tenderloins in a 300F degree smoker or a grill indirect with hot coals on one side and the meat on the other. Throw in some smoke wood on the coals and close the lid. Head inside to make the lime sour cream.
How to make Lime Sour Cream
Combine the sour cream, juice of one lime and cilantro in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Head back out to the pork tenderloin. The goal here is to reverse sear it, which means to smoke it and then sear it. Searing first won’t allow much smoke to penetrate. So smoke until it reaches an internal temp of about 125-130 and then move it over to the hot side of the grill to sear:
Once the chipotle pork is seared all the way around and it hits the target temp of 145, pull it from the grill:
While the pork rests, roast some corn for the roasted corn relish.
***Editor’s Note ~ Before anyone gets all up in arms about only cooking pork to 145, the USDA now says that pork does not have to be cooked beyond medium rare***
Corn Relish Instructions
Place the ear of corn over the hot coals and keep turning until there’s some char all the way around:
Slice the roasted corn off the cob and combine with the chopped peppers, shallot, purple cabbage and cilantro. Then add the oil and juice of 1 half lime and mix together:
Now slice the pork tenderloin and let’s get ready to make some Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream:
See how much meat there is compared to how much of the seared chipotle outside? That’s why we lay the chipotle seasoning on thick.
How to grill Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream
Tortillas
Brush some olive oil on one side of a fajita shell:
Then place it oiled side down over a hot fire and oil the other side:
Don’t walk away to use the restroom or get a refill. This doesn’t take long. Keep checking the bottom. We’re looking for a little browning to crisp up the shell. When it bubbles on top, it’s ready:
Here’s what it looks like on the other side:
Place a layer of shredded cheese, a layer of pork tenderloin and another layer of shredded cheese on one half of the browned side:
Fold the shell over to make our chipotle taco and place it back over the hot fire. Again, don’t go very far:
We’re still looking for a little browning. Once it browns a little, rotate it 45 degrees:
And yes, I crosshatched my taco:
Once it’s browned on both sides and the cheese is good and melty, we can take the taco off the grill:
Spoon in the roasted corn relish:
Stack up the chipotle tacos with the roasted corn relish and hit it with that lime sour cream:
Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream Recap
First off, by reverse searing the pork tenderloin, I get that sultry smoke PLUS the caramelization of the proteins on the outside from the sear and the sweet smokiness of the chipotle seasoning – win, Win, WIN! By cooking both sides of the fajita shell, I add a wonderful airy and crispy texture to the mouthfeel. The lime and cilantro in the roasted corn relish and the sour cream meld so beautifully together. This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever done on the site. You’ve got to try it. I’ll wait for the thank you’s and accolades. Go ahead, go get the ingredients and give it a go. I’ll wait ;-D
As always, if you have any questions or comments you can leave them below or send me an email.
Also, you can follow us on our GrillinFools Facebook page, Instagram, and YouTube feeds
Chipotle Tacos with Lime Sour Cream
Ingredients
- 2 pork tenderloin tethered together
- olive oil
- McCormick Grill Mates Chipotle & Roasted Garlic Seasoning
- Salt
- pepper
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 tbsp lime juice (from 1½ limes), divided
- ½ cup cilantro chopped fine
- 1 ear corn
- ½ red pepper chopped
- ½ yellow pepper chopped
- 1 shallot or onion chopped
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
- ½ cup purple cabbage shredded
- 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra
- Fajita shells
- shredded cheese
Instructions
- Truss the pork tenderloins together, fat end to skinny and vice versa
- Oil the trussed pork and coat with salt, pepper and the Chipotle & Roasted Garlic Seasoning
- Smoke the pork tenderloins until they get to between 125-130 degrees on a 300 degree grill (should take between 45 min to an hour)
- While the pork is smoking, combine the sour cream, juice of one lime and cilantro in a bowl and blend well
- When the pork tenderloins reach 125-130 sear over hot coals to get a nice char all the way around and take it to 145 degrees
- Remove from the heat and allow to rest
- Roast the ear of corn over the hot coals till some nice char appears all the way around
- Slice the roasted corn from the cob and combine with the peppers, shallots, cabbage and then mix in the oil and the juice from the half a lime
- Brush the side of the fajita shells with oil and place them over hot coals, oiled side down
- Brush oil over the other sides
- Once the shells start to bubble and brown on the bottom, remove from the heat and place them browned side up on a cutting board or platter
- Place a layer of cheese, pork tenderloin and cheese on one half of the shell and then fold it over to form a taco
- Place back on the grill to brown the outside of the tacos
- Remove from the heat and spoon in the roasted corn relish and add a drizzle of lime sour cream
Related Posts
