Italian Sausage Sandwiches with a Greek Twist

Italian Sausage Sandwiches with a Greek Twist

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Sizzlin’ Sauces’ Mojo’s Tapenade blends Kalamata olives with sun dried tomatoes into a great spread that goes wonderfully with not just French bread but also burgers and dogs. If you want something sweeter, try the Razing Cane Garlic Relish. It’s sweet, sour, and has just a hint of habanero. Recently, Mark Masker snuck some of each into the Italian sausage sandwiches he was grilling up before a game for some friends and they loved it.

Ingredients

6 Italian sausage links
3 green bell peppers
6 bolillo rolls (cut open)
Sizzlin’ Sauces Mojo’s Tapenade and/or garlic spread
Gorgonzola cheese
Olive oil

Instructions

Heat your grill to medium high.
Gut the peppers, cut it them half, and place it and the sausages on the grate, close the lid, and turn the sausages in three to five minutes.
Close the lid and repeat the process until done.
You’ll want to turn the pepper halves once their color goes to a more olive green.
Once the peppers and sausage are done, remove them and slice the pepper halves into thirds.
Drizzle the cut open rolls with a little olive oil.
Spread either the tapenade or the garlic spread on each and place a sausage in the roll, then top it with gorgonzola cheese.

jalapeno poppers

Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers

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This popper recipe is from Mark Masker’s review of the Jalapeño Jeaven’s rack. Read the entire Burn! Blog article here.

Ingredients

35 jalapeños or small sweet peppers
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons black pepper
3 teaspoons granulated onion
3 teaspoons granulated garlic

Instructions

Set the cream cheese out on the counter to warm up.

Wash the peppers and use the corer to remove the tops, seeds, and guts.
In a medium kitchen bowl, mix the warmed cream cheese with the salt, pepper, onion, and garlic.

While the grill heats up to medium or medium high, stuff each pepper with the mixture and place it in the Jeavenly Host (or into your favorite popper grill rack).

Set the rack on the grill grate, close the lid, and let the peppers grill for five minutes.

Remove the Jeavenly Host (or other popper rack) from your grill with a set of oven mitts. Place it where your friends can serve themselves and let them go to town.

Zhangcha Duck

Zhangcha Duck

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This is a style of smoking that hails from China’s Sichuan (formerly Szechuan) region, which is known for its hot, spicy cuisine. Serious Chinese food geeks may be familiar with Zhangcha duck—a tea-smoked Sichuan delicacy that’s tough to make but impressive as hell to anyone who’s never had it before. This is the recipe Mark Masker used for his experiment.  Read the entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

One 2 to 2 1/2-pound duck
1 1/2 tablespoons Sichuan pepper*
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons rice wine
1/2 cup black tea leaves (preferably Oolong)

Instructions

First you want to clean the duck and open a slit about 3 ½ inches long at the back of it so you can remove the guts. Then, mix everything but the duck and the tea. Marinate the duck in that concoction in the fridge for several hours. Place the duck into boiling water to tighten the hide. This ensures that your duck will have a crispy skin after you’re done cooking it. While that’s going on, you should start preheating enough vegetable oil or peanut oil in a separate pan to deep-fry the duck later on. Drain the water from the duck, and move it over to your heated wok. The tea sits in the bottom of the wok while you smoke the duck in it for 10-15 minutes. After that, steam the duck for 10 more minutes. Think you’re done? Not quite. Let the duck cool off, then deep-fry it in the oil until the skin is crisp. It goes great with rice, veggies, and Chinese dumplings.

Spicy-Lentil-Stew-with-Killer-Sausage

Spicy Lentil Stew with Killer Sausage

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This stuff freezes well, it’s hearty, and you can adjust the heat level easily up or down, simply by adding more or less fresh habanero chile. The baseline heat level of the sausage is only warm, so if you want a real kick, add at least half a habanero to the pot. This features Mulay’s Killer Hot Italian Sausage, but you can use your favorite spicy Italian sausage.

Ingredients

1/3 pound of bacon (about 5 slices), cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 large celery stalks, diced
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 fresh habanero chile, stem and seeds removed, finely chopped (add more if you love it hot)
1 pound dry split red lentils, rinsed and cleaned
2 cups water
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (or substitute 1/2 teaspoon dry)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 pound Mulay’s Killer Hot Italian Sausage (or substitute the Italian sausage of your choice, though it won’t be nearly as good)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Heat a large 6-8 quart pot on medium heat. Add the bacon pieces and cook until browned. Remove the bacon pieces and set aside.
Heat the remaining bacon fat and add the carrots, onions, celery, and cumin. Sauté until softened and onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and habanero, and cook for another minute.
Return the cooked bacon to the pot and add the lentils, stock, water, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the stew, partially covered, until the lentils are tender—about 45 minutes.
Brown the sausage links in a separate skillet over medium heat until they are cooked through. Remove from the pan and slice into bite-sized pieces when slightly cooled. Add the sausage to the stew during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Add the sherry vinegar and cilantro to the stew, and adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

tea-smoked-bacon-

Tea-Smoked Sichuan (or Szechuan) Bacon

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This is a style of smoking that hails from China’s Sichuan (formerly Szechuan) region, which is known for its hot, spicy cuisine.  This is the recipe Mark Masker used to make this tasty Asian bacon.  Read the entire article on the Burn! Blog here.

Ingredients

1 5-pound slab of pork belly, skin on, neatly trimmed
2 tablespoons Sichuan pepper*
2 tablespoons ginger
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons Morton’s Tender Quick or equivalent pink salt cure
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Instructions

Mix up all the non-swine ingredients and use the mixture as a rub on all surfaces of the pork belly. Place it in the fridge inside a Ziploc bag or in a covered, non-reactive container just large enough to hold the pork belly. Flip the belly every day for seven days, then wash it off, and let it dry on a rack in the fridge overnight. Hot-smoke it the next day until it reaches 165 degrees F. at its thickest point. Then, remove the skin while the finished bacon is still warm.