A Simple Fatty-

"Let's do a Fatty." That's what I suggested to my daughter, Beth. Since she, her husband Dave, and their three children returned to live with us once again, Beth has been in charge of the food department at our extended household.

This was my first effort in the realm of the Fatty, a thing I read about only months ago but have admired from afar. Though the concept of the Fatty is open to many interpretations, I decided to make this first one simple. Pork, lot's of pork. Cheese. Sausage.

I gave Beth a short list, and a few hours later I had what I needed to begin.

I covered my counter with a sheet of parchment paper and opened the three packages of prepared pork sausage Beth had brought me. Safeway Select. I formed the ground meat on the parchment into a rectangle of porky goodness, about an inch thick. I then laid out on it the variety of cheese slices Beth had procured. Pepper Jack, Sharp Cheddar, Swiss, and Colby Jack. I alternated the slices so that a bit of each would melt into every section of the Fatty.

Onto this foundation I set a smoked Turkey Kielbasa. It seemed a bit long, so I cut about an inch off of each end. I then rolled the whole thing using the parchment in order to form a great log of meat and cheese. I formed the ends around the exposed Kielbasa.

This meaty assembly I set aside and put down a second sheet of parchment. Onto this I began to weave a blanket of bacon. Two pounds of bacon interleaved to form a sheet of bacon goodness. I trimmed the few bits that did not form well into the bacon blanket. These bits I set aside with the Kielbasa ends. These bits provided the cook with something to quick fry and snack on while the cooking was going on.

Onto the blanket of bacon I set the prepared log of cheese and sausage. I rolled the whole thing in the parchment to wrap it in the bacon blanket. I found the bacon bound sufficiently to the pork sausage so as to need no skewers to hold it in place. I moved the parchment wrapped Fatty to a tray for transport to the Char-Broil Silver Smoker.

The smoker was prepared with a single starter chimney load of Kingsford Mesquite Charcoal. I always ignite my charcoal using a small pan of rubbing alcohol placed in the fire box and set ablaze. I put the starter chimney over this, and in very short order the charcoal lights and gets going very well. There is no residual flavor as often results from starting fluids, and no ash mess that comes with the often frustrating use of newspaper.

I seldom have newspaper, anyway. I get most of my news off of the Internet. It is hard to start a fire with the Internet.

Once the coals were going well I dumped them into the fire box and pushed them together near the cooking chamber. Once the chamber was hot I brushed the grill clean and slid the Fatty from the parchment onto the grill. I placed my thermometer probe into the end of the Fatty furthest from the fire, making sure that the probe was embedded into the Kielbasa.

Ordinarily I set a timer and return to my cooking every twenty minutes. Each visit I check the fire. If it is still going well, I add some soaked Mesquite chips. If the coals are burned past half of their original mass, I add about six briquettes. This day I had the grand kids outside with me, and remained in attendance to my fire more than I usually do.

Consequently, I was fussing excessively with the fire and got it too hot. I checked the cooking chamber and we were over 350 degrees. Way more than my usual target of around 200 degrees or so. I vented the heat back to around 200 degrees. However, I noticed that the bacon wrap was cooking nicely with the higher heat, so I let it stay a bit hotter than usual.

How to crisp the bacon wrap had been a concern. The Fatty was too large to easily move to the fire for a finishing crisping. I considered a torch to do the finish, but the outer wrap crisped rather nicely due to the higher cooking temperature.

When the Fatty reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees I proclaimed it done and moved it to a tray to rest for fifteen minutes under a foil tent. It looked so good that it proved to be a very long fifteen minutes. Finally, it was ready. I sliced it into one inch thick sections. These I placed on a serving tray, along side a bucket of beans.

The Fatty was a big hit with the family, though there were many comments about the impact such a meal would have on the blood pressure. The prepared sausage provided a nice degree of spice, without being overwhelming. The Kielbasa provided some tooth, and smokey goodness. The bacon, well, it is bacon! The melted cheeses were a very positive addition.

Lessons learned:

Don't build it quite that big, next time. Make several smaller Fatties. It was hard to handle, and the bacon on the bottom could have used some crisping. Smaller Fatties could be cooked a bit more slowly, and still be crisped over direct heat toward the end.

Use more cheese, and more aggressive cheeses. The delicate flavors of the Swiss and the Colby Jack were lost in the bold flavors of the rest of the Fatty. A lot more Sharp Cheddar would be good. Perhaps a goodly amount of Pepper Jack and Cheddar would work, as well. Something to experiment with. Maybe even some Stinky Cheeses, to make a Stinky Fatty.

It might be fun to play with the sausages used in the center. Perhaps replace the sausage with some previously smoked cuts of meat. Pickled meats or fishes could also be placed in the center, providing additional aggressive flavors and a variety of textures.

With regard to textures, I think strips of grilled vegetables would go nicely in the Fatty, as well. Peppers, in particular, would provide flavor and texture. They would also add color to the plated slices.

The ground meat used to create the bulk of the Fatty also provides ample opportunity to experiment. Rather than prepared pork sausage, the cook can grind and blend a variety of meats and spices to create something truly unique.

The Fatty is a barbecue format that provides the cook with opportunities to experiment. It is delicious in the simple form, and has the potential to be magnificent. I look forward to the adventure.

Barbecue Cheater-

We don't have much weather in our part of California. Winter for us is a couple of days of freezing temperatures, largely at night, and some rain. Combine the rain with other pressing family needs, and I haven't gotten my Char-Broil Silver Smoker running for weeks.

Last week I cleaned it and did a good cleansing burn. The weather was still a bit wet, but I wanted to clean out some of the unpleasantness that finds its way into an idle barbecue.

This week the weather finally broke. My daughter, now in charge of food purchases and menu planning for the clan, had purchased two beef steaks so thick as to look like roasts, and a packaged marinated pork roast. The meats came from Costco.

Having the pork processed ahead of time was a bit of a cheat, but that didn't prevent me from getting it on the grill yesterday. It was a garlic and pepper marinade, and smelled pretty good right out of the package. The steaks I rubbed with olive oil and my general purpose rub made from equal portions of salt, pepper and whatever seasoned salt I have around. This seasoned salt was a barbecue mix from the Dollar Tree.

I set up for a three to four hour cooking time, got the fire going and got the meat on the grill. Just short of four hours the steak furthest from the fire achieved an internal temperature of 168 degrees, three degrees over my target of 165. I pulled the meat off of the grill and let it rest in an aluminum foil lined cooler. I liked the cooler idea, which I got second hand from my friend Keven Fisher. It lets the meat rest as long as you want (within reason) while sides and other items are finished up.

The cheater pork was really good. The steaks were pretty good, as well, but the meat had been a bit leaner than I generally select for slow cooking. In retrospect I think they could have used a bacon wrapping to provide some fat to improve the cooking process and add depth of flavor.

I need to sit down with my daughter and go through the Barbecue Bible, selecting some recipes and discussing meat selection. This is becoming a team effort, and I think we can all have some fun at the grill.

Well, it is almost lunch time, and I chopped up and blended some of that meat last night. I added some soy sauce and rice wine vinegar to the mix, and it has been waiting patiently for me in the refrigerator all night. I think it might be quite ready and very tasty.

Yep. Time for lunch.

Barbecue Budget-

Yep, the Christmas season was fiscally draining. I literally have not had enough money to barbecue. Oh, we have had a little rain. Nothing to stop barbecuing. It got a touch cold, but nothing like most people have to face.

No, the problem was money. Some genius decided that it would be a great idea to have people pay their property taxes just before Christmas. Wonderful idea! At the very time we are spending in excess for unnecessary things to give to each other, we have to make a contribution to the government.

Living on a budget is nothing new in my family. However, with the smaller amount available for food purchases (after the massive spending on the holiday meals) I just can't squeeze out the funds for charcoal and a lovely slab of meat. Add to that the fact that someone else usually spends the food funds before I get a chance to make my input regarding a nice barbecue, and the season becomes barbecue free.

So, I am proposing to the management that a gift certificate for the grocery store be purchased on a semi-regular basis. That way the meat money will be available when the proper time for a grand barbecue presents itself.

You know, like because it is Thursday. Or because the sun is shining. Because the sun isn't shining. Mostly because barbecue just tastes good!

Yep, gotta get some coals burning and some smoke in the wind!