Sausage Pinwheels
Courtesy of Rob McDaniel of Helen
Ingredients
1 pound of your favorite breakfast sausage
3 cups White Lily Self-Rising Flour, plus extra for rolling out
1 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter
1 ½ cups cold whole-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Parchment paper
Non-stick spray
Recipe
Mix the flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Using a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour. Using your hands, carefully toss the butter in the flour to coat the outside of the butter slivers. This should be done rather quickly. Then form a well in the center of the flour and pour in the cold buttermilk. Using a floured hand and turning the bowl with the other, carefully fold the flour into the center of the buttermilk.
Once the flour and buttermilk come together, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly flour the top of the dough, then roll out the dough into even squares that are about ¼ inch thick. Cut two pieces of parchment paper slightly larger than your square of dough.
Remove the sausage from the wrapper and place between the two pieces of parchment paper that have been lightly sprayed with non-stick spray. Using a rolling pin, roll the sausage out into a sheet that’s slightly smaller than your sheet of dough. Remove the top sheet of parchment and place the sausage onto the dough, then remove the remaining sheet of parchment.
Starting with the edge of the dough closest to you, roll the dough and sausage, forming a log. Trim the edges off the log, then cut in half. Wrap each piece separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or freeze for up to 2 days.
For cooking, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the log into ½-inch round pinwheels and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until the bottoms start to brown, about 15 minutes, then turn over to brown the other side 5–10 more minutes.
I like to enjoy with yellow mustard or favorite preserves.
Holiday Ham
From Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse by Pat Martin of Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint
Makes about 15 pounds of meat (about 50 servings)
Ingredients
1 skin-on ham (23 to 25 pounds)
⅓ cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt or Big Hoss Rub
Vegetable oil, for grates
Recipe
If possible, season the ham 1 to 2 days before you plan to cook it. Season it all over with a good, even coating of the salt. Transfer the ham to a wire rack set inside a sheet pan and refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to cook.
Build a pit, prepare a feeder fire, and fire the pit. If you don’t have a custom grate for your pit, lay a regular grill grate across 3 or 4 bars placed close together and let it heat up as well. Wipe the grate down with vegetable oil. Place the ham on the grate, skin-side up. Close the cover and fire the pit as needed to maintain a temperature of 250°F.
After 6 hours, open the pit to flip the ham. Using heatproof gloves, carefully loosen the skin or any stuck parts from the grate as needed. Flip the ham in one smooth motion.
Cover the pit and continue cooking the ham, maintaining a pit temperature of about 220°F. The ham should take 20 to 22 hours to cook (or about 1 hour per pound).
Your ham is finished cooking when you can push your thumb into the meat and it doesn’t spring back. Texture is a better indicator of doneness than temperature, but you can insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the ham; the meat is ready when it’s between 180° and 185°F—lower and it will be tough, higher and it will start to dry out.
Transfer the ham to a cutting board or clean work surface. Let it rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour before removing the skin and cutting against the grain into slices. If the ham is tender and delicious, slice it the width of a pencil to show it off. If it’s a little tough or dry, you can slice it a little thinner to help it along.
As you work through the ham, you’ll hit the femur bone; either carve around the bone or pull it out. You can also separate the ham into its large muscles, then slice those individually (always against the grain).
Maw-Maw Martin’s Pecan Pie
From Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse by Pat Martin of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3 extra-large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
All-purpose flour, for dusting
Pie crust (unbaked)
Recipe
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F.
In a saucepan, warm the butter over medium-high heat until just melted. Remove from the heat and mix in the sugar until thoroughly combined. Let cool slightly.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla to combine. Slowly add the melted butter-sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Add the pecans and stir to combine.
Make the pie dough, roll it out, and line a standard 9-inch pie pan as directed. Pour the mixture into the pie shell.
Bake until the center of the pie reaches 200°F on an instant-read thermometer and a skewer inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
Let cool completely (about 3 hours) before slicing and serving.