Sausage Explosion!

I have been wanting to try this Fattie recipe ever since I heard about it at our Hudson Valley competition in August.  So, I give to you, the Sausage Explosion Fattie...

First, take three pounds of bulk breakfast sausage, place into a sealable plastic bag, and roll flat...

I then placed the sausage in the frig overnight so that it would chill and become easy to work with. 

Then, slice open the bag and place the flat sausage on wax paper.  I then layered with American cheese a thin sliced sweet onion...

Then, breakfast link sausage...

Roll up, seal tight, and place in a basic bacon weave...

Then, onto the smoker for 1 hour at 250 F, then a second hour at 350 F...

Slice up and serve...

Overall, the taste was there for sure.  There were some problems with runniness due to the liquid in the American  cheese and onions.  Therefore, the next time I do this, here are some things I will do different:

1.  Use a higher temp melting cheese such as queso blanco or something Italian in nature (mozzarella or provolone).

2.  Caramelize the onions to remove the moisture.

3.  Brown the breakfast links for a better look and taste. 

That being said, there wasn't any of this left, regardless of how it looked...  ;)

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

This IS a Fattie your Grandma would have Made!

The thing that I love about a BBQ Fattie is that the possibilities are endless.  You can use any meat with any stuffing.  I have had a taste for stuffed cabbage lately, so, why not?  Here is a step by step method for making a Stuffed Cabbage Fattie...

First, I cleaned, peeled, and diced 3 small potatoes for mashed potatoes.  Only homemade here folks...

While the potatoes were cooking, I cleaned and diced 1 small sweet onion and some cabbage.  I caramelized in some olive oil, salt and pepper...

I cooked 1/2 cup of white rice to get 1 cup of cooked rice, then cooled down in the freezer...

Once cooled, I mixed with 2 pounds of ground pork, 1 tsp of minced garlic, and some salt and pepper...

Mixed it all up, placed in a plastic bag, flattened out, and put in the frig to firm up...

While the meat and rice mixture was chilling, I made my mashed potatoes, mixed in the cabbage potato mix, and placed in my "mold".  Once molded, I put in the frig to firm up...

For the tomato sauce, I sauteed 1 tsp of minced garlic and 1/4 of a small sweet onion with some salt and pepper.  Added 15 oz of canned sauce, brought to a simmer, and let cook down by 1/4...

While the sauce was cooking, I prepared the fattie...  I cut the plastic bag and placed the pork mixture on some wax paper.  Remember, wax paper is your friend...

Then, onto the middle rack of the Baby at 250 F with a piece of oak in the ash pan...

Flipped after 30 minutes and raised the temp to 300 F.  As you can see the seam came apart a bit.  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  It allowed the tomato sauce to get at the potato mixture inside...

Then, after another 30 minutes, I placed in a foil pan, covered with the reduced tomato sauce, and raised the temp to 350 F...

Finished product...

As you can see, it fell apart a bit.  But the flavors were there for sure.  Moist, juicy, with a hint of oak.  Good stuff.

Some things I will do differently next time:

1.  3 lb of ground pork
2.  I will wrap with a bacon weave
3.  More cabbage in the potato

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill