Patio Daddio BBQ - Musings of barbecue, cooking, and life -- served hot, fresh and saucy

I made two batches of these kabobs. For the first I used the Three Cheese Italian Style, and for the other I used their Chipotle Monterey Jack variety. Both were good, but the chipotle version was the clear winner at our house. It just had a bolder flavor, and the added touch of spiciness was welcome.



The trick to these is finding mini bell peppers that are large enough to hold the sausage pieces without splitting. I was somewhat successful, but there came a time where I just had to make what I had work.

Ingredients
1 package (12 oz) Johnsonville® chicken sausage (any variety), sliced to 1"
8-10 Mini bell peppers, sliced to 1"
1 medium Red onion, peeled and quartered so that the petals are intact
2 tsp Your favorite BBQ seasoning (I used my Memphis-style rub)
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Butter, unsalted, melted
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Canola oil cooking spray

Method
Note: If you use wooden skewers be sure to soak them in water for at least an hour before assembling your kabobs. This will help to prevent them from burning.

Whisk together the honey, butter and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

Insert each piece of sausage into a ring of pepper as best you can. As the pieces of pepper get smaller you will have to trim the sausage pieces to fit. Some of the rings will split, but that's fine.



Prepare your grill for direct grilling at medium heat (300-325°).

Thread the wrapped sausage onto a skewer with a piece of onion between each. Repeat with the remaining sausage.



Spray all sides of each kabob with the cooking spray and grill them direct for about four minutes. Turn them over, brush with the honey mixture, and grill another 4-5 minutes.



Brush again with the honey mixture, then remove the kabobs from the grill.

Serve and enjoy.

Serving suggestions: I served mine on saffron rice with some grilled pineapple. They would also be great tossed into some simple butter and garlic pasta.

Disclaimer: This post is in partnership with Johnsonville®, but the recipe is completely my own.

This is a serious experiment in porcine dessert indulgence. It's rich and creamy homemade vanilla ice cream with tidbits of pig candy and bacon-infused pralines riddled throughout. The savory, sweet and slight spiciness of the bacon are magical with the cool creaminess of the ice cream.

For the ice cream I used my old-school White Mountain ice cream maker and a really simple no-cook (some may say cheater) base recipe. You can use your favorite recipe in whatever ice cream maker you have.

Ingredients
3 cups Heavy whipping cream
2 cups Whole milk
1 can (14 oz) Sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp Vanilla extract (the real stuff, please)
7 slices Pig Candy, chopped
1 cup Pig Pralines, rough chopped

Method
Combine the cream, milk, condensed milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and whisk well until all of the ingredients are completely incorporated. Cover and refrigerate.

Prepare your ice cream maker and freeze the ice cream per the instructions.

Gently fold the bacon and pralines into the soft ice cream and freeze in an airtight container until it hardens (3-4 hours).

Serve and enjoy! I served mine with a drizzle of a homemade maple caramel and some additional chopped bacon and pralines.

Makes about 4 quarts

One look at their list of flavors makes it very obvious that these aren't your average run-of-the-mill popcorn seasonings. With flavors like barbecue (hello!), buffalo wing, jalepeno cheddar, bacon cheddar, and pizza, how can a guy possibly go wrong?

They sent me four flavors -- barbecue, bacon cheddar, buffalo wing, and pizza. I tasted each flavor straight from the jar and I thought that they were all very true to their name, but of course the real test would be on popcorn. We tried them all in various batches of freshly popped corn.

I popped a few quarts of fresh corn using peanut oil. A great method is to heat the oil in a large pot, covered, at just over medium heat with just four or five kernels in the oil. Once those kernels pop, move the pot off of the heat for about thirty seconds. At that point pour in the corn (about 1/2 cup to 3 tablespoons of oil) and return the pot to the heat. Cover the pot with the lid tilted to vent some of the steam. Shake the pot on the burner every few seconds. Most of the corn will pop within about a minute or so. You'll know it's done when there are several seconds of silence between pops. When you reach that point, immediately pour the corn into a large bowl. Using this method you will notice that there are very few un-popped kernels and very little, if any, burned corn.

As I mentioned, we tried the seasonings a few times and we enjoyed each, with the exception of the buffalo wing flavor. That was just too potent, and the vinegar flavor shot straight into our nostrils in an off-putting way. It mellowed a bit as we ate it, but it was definitely our least favorite.

Our overwhelming favorite was actually a blend of the barbecue and bacon-cheddar. That was some serious cheesy, smoky and slightly sweet popcorn bliss. Blending flavors really is a great way to use Kernel Season's. You can create your own signature flavored popcorn with just a few shakes of this and that.

Oh, and don't stop at popcorn! These seasonings would be great on French fries, tater tots, baked potatoes, or anything else that could use a blast of flavor. I think that some homemade potato chips would be an outstanding canvas for these seasonings. Shoot, I'd bet that some would even be a great on meat headed for the grill.

Overall we really enjoyed the Kernel Season's product and I recommend them.

Disclaimer: The seasonings were provided to me free of charge for the purpose of this review, but the thoughts expressed are entirely my own.

This is a very simple recipe. I just winged it and didn't use a candy thermometer. It's pretty hard to mess this up.

Ingredients
1 cup Pecan halves
1 Tbsp Bacon drippings
1/3 cup Brown sugar, golden/light
2 Tbsp Maple syrup (the real stuff, of course)
1/4 tsp Ground cayenne (optional, but recommended)
Pinch Chinese five spice

Method
Heat the bacon drippings in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the sugar melts and comes just to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Cook three minutes more, continuing to stir constantly.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the nuts cool in the pan, stirring occasionally.

Note: If the pecans are still sticky after they've cooled a bit, just toss them with a little more brown sugar.

Makes 1 cup.