Summer Sizzlin’
By Tom Richey, Grilling Enthusiast and Head Cook For His Competition Team, 7th Street Smokers
Looking to spice up your backyard grill game this season? Try this unique southern-inspired, locally sourced, and easy method of cooking fresh sausage.
One of the best places to find uncooked sausage is at your local meat market or butcher shop. These shops often carry their own mixes, but many can make a variety based on your own taste. Shop recipes are full of spices and added smoke flavors, but I suggest buying a simple flavor in order to find out what you like. Your local butcher is knowledgeable about the sausage flavors and can help you select the right one.
For a custom sausage recipe, a good starting place is a mix of half pork and half beef with salt and pepper spices. This simple recipe allows you to taste the effects of the cooking method. If you cook in the presence of smoke, you’ll taste the smoke more clearly. If you are cooking in a neutral environment (gas grill or oven), you’ll enhance the taste of the ingredients. Then you can add (or subtract!) ingredients based on your experience.
For the sausage casing (the outside of the sausage), you may find a great variation from one shop to the next. While sausage casing is not a glamorous topic, texture absolutely matters in the culinary world which can make or break your outcome. The only way to know what you like is to try different things, take notes, and go from there!
For a barbecue experience, cook the sausage over indirect heat on your outdoor grill. For a charcoal grill, put the charcoal on one side of the grill, and the sausage on the other. On a gas grill, light the burner on one side, and put the sausage over an unlit burner. For smoke flavor on a gas grill, wood chips will be needed (you can make a foil packet or purchase a smoke can).
Cooked sausage pairs well with a variety of roasted seasonal garden vegetables. Pick your favorite and get cookin’!
Savory Sausage with Seasoned Green Beans
Soak thawed sausage in a saltwater brine (1 tablespoon of salt per cup of water) for 24 hours prior to cooking; keep refrigerated during this time, keep sausage fully submerged.
Cook at 350 degrees for 1-1.5 hours, or
until internal sausage temperature
is 165 degrees.Allow sausage to rest 10 -15 minutes
after cooking then cut links into
individual servings.
To Prepare Green Beans:
Rinse fresh green beans and trim ends.
Toss in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil,
sea salt, garlic powder, dried onion, and black pepper.Place evenly on a baking sheet or foil packet and roast on the grill or in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until lightly charred.