Grilled Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches w/ Fiery Tomato Sauce

So for this weekend I decided to do a contest for Johnsonville Brats. I had to make a kabob recipe out of one of many selections of sausages from Johnsonville.

I decided to go with the Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausages. I've always liked sweet pork sausage so it only made since to me to do a Sausage & Pepper dish like you get at the carnival.

Ingredients

-1 pack of Johnsonville sweet Italian sausages

- 2 bell peppers any color

- 2 tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

- 1 can tomato sauce

- Italian Seasoning (I made my own: 1/2 tbsp tarragon, 1/2 tbsp basil, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2                  tbsp Parmesan cheese, 1/2 tbsp garlic, salt, pepper)

- 1 Jalapeno

- skewers  

- 6 Hoagie Rolls

Directions

First off these would pair good with a nice pitcher of Sangria or some Hard Cider beer. Cube up your sausage, peppers, and tomatoes.

Skewer those bad boys up. Any order, it doesn't matter. Salt and pepper. Oh! light your grill too! Slice your hoagie rolls down the center, and butter them up as well.

In the middle of this whole process I had to put everything away and go to my son's baseball game. It's his first year playing and he's picking it up great. He went 5 for 5 with a double and made a great play at 2nd base. The whole team did great!! 

Once I got home, I then poured the sauce into a small grill pan. (I used my baby cast iron skillet) added my Italian seasoning and chopped up a jalapeno and added that as well. Then mixed it up.

Grill up your skewers until you have a nice char on the peppers and the sausage is done. I like to brown everything on each side then stack them up on top of  each other and let them finish cooking on the cold side by closing the grill. It ensures you don't burn them and gives you some time to enjoy a cocktail!

While your kabob's are still cooking, toast up your hoagies, and heat up your fiery tomato sauce.

Once they're finished. Just put a kabob on a hoagie. Grasp the bun and pull out the skewer. Top it with your fiery tomato sauce. Have a few cocktails afterwards of course!

Jalapeno-Bud-Light Lime Beer Can Chicken

Ingredients

- Whole Chicken (This was about 5 lbs)

- 1 24oz. Bud Light Lime Can

- Salt & Pepper

- Jalapenos & Limes

Directions 

Remove innards of bird. Rub butter or oil on bird. Salt and pepper generously and/or add any rubs or seasoning that you would like. I used course salt, pepper, paprika, and chicken/rib rub. Use a fine grater to grate lime zest on to your bird. Like below.

                         

Chop up a couple jalapenos, and quarter up a lime or two. Stuff half of the chopped jalapenos into the cavity of the bird.

Use a can opener to open up the whole top of the beer can. This may take a little work depending on what kind of can opener you have. It should be all the way open like below.

  

Now, drink half of the beer inside. Never waste beer by pouring it out!!!! Put the rest of your jalapenos and limes into the open beer can.

 Very carefully insert the can into the birds cavity until it sits up nicely on a flat surface. You may have to work with it for a while. I loaded his arms up with 2 whole jalapenos for comical purposes.

Light your grill. Make sure you have a cold side and a hot side. If your using gas grill (which I never suggest) light half the grill and keep your temp from around 250-350. I always use lump charcoal mixed with Hickory chunks. 

Place the bird on the cold side of the grill once your coals are hot. 

Close the grill and don't open for an hour. Make sure all of your dampers are closed to keep all the heat inside. Down below you can see the mix of lump hardwood charcoal and Hickory chunks just to get an idea of how much to use. The first hour should be cooking at around 300 degrees. 

I would suggest using an internal thermometer and not relying too much on the thermometer that is provided with your grill as they are generally not very reliable.  

After one hour, add more coals to maintain temperature or add a smoking wood as I did and let it smoke for another at anywhere from 230 degrees to 300 degrees.

After the 2nd hour I just added more mix of Hickory and charcoal to maintain temperature. From this point on your skin should be getting nice and dark. I would highly suggest you start monitoring your thermometer. Keep checking the chicken every 15 minutes or so, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 160°F - 165°F. The total cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken, and the internal temperature of the grill. A 4 lb chicken will usually take around 1 1/2 hours. If you don't have a meat thermometer, a way to tell if the chicken is done is to poke it deeply with a knife (the thigh is a good place to do this), if the juices run clear, not pink, the chicken is done.

Once your bird is done to your liking, carefully transfer your bird from the grill to a cutting board and let it rest for a few minutes. If your not sure on how to carve a whole chicken here's a video tutorial:

Cut and enjoy!!!! Drink with a Bud Light Lime and it's even better!!