# Smoking for a friend. Fatties, ABTs, chicken and more



## fire it up (Jun 17, 2009)

A friend of mine was up here visiting recently from the Virgin Islands.  We grew up together and several yeas ago he moved to St. Croix

I had fed him a few different smoked foods I had in the freezer and in the fridge but wanted to smoke up some goodness for him fresh and hot before he left.
Finally the day before he left  (well the night before) I got things going.
I do have to apologize for not having my normal detailed shots, it was a busy day so some were missed, then my camera died in the middle of everything.  Luckily my Sister had her camera handy, but I didn't get all the shots I had wanted.  
Now on with the show...

We started out with a spinach tomato salad and some crostinis, and some ABT's.  ABTs were pretty normal, cream cheese, mexi-blend cheese, garlic powder, wrapped in bacon and sprinkled a little Stubb's rub on top.  The salad was just fresh torn spinach, tomatoes and feta tossed with some CBP, garlic powder, Italian dressing and balsamic dressing.





I brined some chicken quarters overnight in a spicy brine
Brine Recipe (doubled because I had 10 quarters)
8C water
1/2C brown sugar
1/2C white sugar
1C kosher salt
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1T crushed red pepper
1/2T black pepper
1t paprika (plain, hot or smoked)
1/2t cayenne
2t hot chili oil
3t your favorite hot sauce

Combine water, sugars and salt in a large sauce pan.  Heat until sugars and salt dissolve.  Turn off heat, add remaining ingredients, stir and cool completely.  Place chicken in a food safe container and add the brine.






Next were the fatties
The first one I have made before.  Bold sausage stuffed with marinated mozzarella, parsley, sun dried tomatoes and garlic


Instead of rolling this one out I tried slitting it down the middle, adding the cheese and tomatoes, wrapping it back up and inserting the garlic cloves into the sides


Next was an Italian sausage with a hot pepper salad mix, mexi-blend cheese and Curley's hot and spicy BBQ sauce




Some of you may wonder why I didn't do the mozz with the Italian and the hot peppers with the bold.  I didn't want the bold/heat from the sausage to interfere with or take away from the heat and flavor of the hot pepper salad.

Also soaked some ears of corn in sugar water for a few hours,  brushed with olive oil, s&p, tied (well kind of) the husk back up and added them to the list.  


Everything on the heat




As things finished I pulled them off.  Around this time is when the camera died on me



(hate when the cheese doesn't want to melt)

(few of these were taken the next day)


Everything turned out really good.  Also had store bought biscuits, and planned on beef ribs but had to return them cause they smelled a bit.
The hot pepper fattie with the sweet spicyness on the BBQ was absolutely amazing.  I would highly recommend trying one out.
You know people really enjoyed themselves when there isn't really any conversation but rather a bunch of people making "Mmmm" and "Oh" noises and caveman type grunts.  
I'm sure I sent my buddy back to the islands happy and full of smoke.
Thanks for checking out my (somewhat) unorganized post.

*edit
Almost forgot to add my first try at beef salami and pepperoni.  
I ordered some tender quick and decided to give Morton's pepperoni and salami recipes a try.


salami


next day, cold pepperoni


I'll post more on those once I slice into and post my try at capicola.


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## werdwolf (Jun 17, 2009)

Great looking food!  I'm sure he enjoyed it.


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## grothe (Jun 17, 2009)

Ummmm......
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Not sure any more needs to be said!


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## irishteabear (Jun 17, 2009)

Everything looks great.


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## smokingscooby (Jun 17, 2009)

Man , I got full just looking at that layout. Great job,looks like your friend did not go home hungry


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## the dude abides (Jun 17, 2009)

Points! for giving that new smoker a workout.  Everything looks great.

Tell me, what did you think of the way the fattie turned out that you just sliced and stuffed.  I've been wanting to do a fattie for a while now, but I honestly just don't want to take the time to make it.  This looks quick and easy.  And if it doesn't take anything away from the final product, who cares, right?

Maybe your friend will bring you down to St. Croix to BBQ for the folks down there.


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## fire it up (Jun 17, 2009)

I gotta tell you Dude, compared to the other way of making them (rolling out, etc.) this was a breeze.  After I put the stuff in I just pushed it back together and smoothed the sausage to seal the cut, rolled it in saran wrap to firm it back up, unrolled, layed down 3 slices of bacon on a new piece of plastic and rolled it up.  So quick, so easy and it held together perfectly.  I don't see why it wouldn't work with other ingredients in the center, and the garlic I just pushed into the sides, smoothed the sausage over the hole and it worked perfect.  
I imagine if different things were inserted properly you could make some neat designs inside.

I told my buddy to ask around and gather me up some local spices, sauces and anything that wouldn't be found in your local grocery store.  He does know a guy who smokes whole pigs but he lives out in the rainforest so it will be a bit before he goes to see him.  Hopefully he'll find me some good stuff and I can try them out smoked.


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## dingle (Jun 17, 2009)

Great looking smoke Fire it up! Bet your friend enjoyed every bite


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## rivet (Jun 17, 2009)

Your new name ought to be "Chef Fire" ! 

Outstanding combination of foods, all well executed with a large dose of ingenuity and creativity. The flavor combo of your fatties really opened my eyes to the possibilities.  The way you decided to simply slice open the chub and stuff was excellent~ a nice shortcut many folks will want to try out, myself included. How did the inserted garlics turn out...were they done well, or still crunchy? 

Everything looked very tasty and by the sounds of it you all had a massive feast! 

How did the corn turn out? I've never soaked it like you sis before, but it sounds interesting.

In any event, well earned points to you, sir, for an excellent smoke and a happy send-off to your friend!


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## forluvofsmoke (Jun 17, 2009)

That's quite a feast you put out...nothing on those plates would of scared me, that's for sure! You would have needed a team of Clydesdales to drag me away! That all looks great, Fiu!

Good smoke!

Eric


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## fire it up (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks Rivet.
Cutting the chub open and stuffing that way really did save quite a bit of time.
Another thing I forgot to mention (and photograph) was between the mozz balls I took a little bit of sausage so it wasn't one continuous line of mozz, just in case of a blow out or oozing while cutting.  Corn was as good as it could have been for the not-so-superb quality I ended up with, but the sugar water soaking added a nice sweetness to them, and the smoke was a nice touch.
The garlic in the one fattie was still crunchy.  Not raw, not soft but in between.  A nice firmness to it which went with the mozzarella wonderfully.


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## mballi3011 (Jun 18, 2009)

Fire that is one very fine smoke you have there. Looks like it a previlage to be called your friend just got tot love the bennies that come with it. Great job


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## mcmelik (Jun 18, 2009)

MAN.........That all looks great. I think you are on to something with splitting the sausage. Going to have to give that a try next time. And I have never used frsh mozerella but have been wanting to try it.


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