Chicken-Apple Sausage Bites with Hot Sweet Mustard

These were almost hors d'oeuvres, but they still worked great for a main course.

I picked up some chicken-apple smoked sausage at the groceria.


I grilled them for about 8 minutes, to almost done.

Anita then took some puff pastry sheets and brushed them with egg. Cut the sausage into thirds and put a piece in the center of 3" x 3" squares of the pastry. Folded the edges in and brushed with some more of the egg wash.


Baked at 400° for about 12 minutes until they were brown.

For the dipping sauce, we mixed 1/2 cup spicy Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup whole grain mustard, and about 1/4 cup honey. On the side we had a spinach salad with thin-sliced red onion, toasted pecans, thin-sliced peaches and a light raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Everything was absolutely fantastic!


Next time we'll make a little less of the hot sweet mustard dippin' sauce. We had lots left over, but we'll use it up on hot dogs and brauts and whatever else we can find.

Chicken-Apple Sausage bites with Hot Sweet Mustard

Summer Fresh Spinach Salad

Breaded Grilled "almost fried" Chicken Wings

I found this recipe on the Dizzy Pig website.

The final product tastes better than just about any deep fried chicken we've ever had.

We started out with a little over 5 pounds of wings. Trimmed the tips and any loose skin.


Next, we fixed up 3 bowls. The first bowl had 2 eggs and a cup of milk, mixed. The other two contained 1/2 cup AP flour, 1/2 cup corn meal, 2 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp of either Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom rub or Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin rub.

We dipped the wings in the egg/milk mixture, and then rolled them in either flour/meal/rub mix.

This is the first time I've tried this recipe or using the WSM as a grill. It was a learning adventure. I took out the water pan and the top grate. I put in one chimney of charcoal, a few chunks of lump charcoal, and two small chunks of mesquite. The goal was to stabilize at 250° F, but I never made it that low. I tended to average around 300° F.


Next, loaded up the wings. About every 15 minutes I'd either rotate the grate 180° or flip the wings carefully.


After about 1 1/2 hours they were done. Maybe even a little over done. Next time I'll either try to get the temp closer to 250° or move to the top grate on the WSM.

The chicken was fantastic. I was thinking of putting some Frank's on them towards the end, but I was right in not doing so. They were outstanding without any sauce, or dipped in Ranch dressing, or dipped in Frank's and melted butter. Just outstanding.


We really like Dizzy Pig's rubs. Give them a try, you won't regret it. We use them on almost everything we grill or smoke.

Fresh basil Tortellini Salad

I marinated some tenderized chicken breasts in Scott's BBQ sauce tonight. I absolutely love that stuff.

Grilled them and made sandwiches. Topped with Swiss, tomato (from the Binford Farmer's Market), lettuce, red onion, and mayo.


Served them up with not-homemade fries (I know, I know), and some fresh basil Tortellini salad.

Good eats.