About a week ago, I decided to try something new (at least for me) and try to make some Jambalaya fatties but couldn't decide what to wrap them in so, I made two -- one with spicy pork sausage and another with a pounded out flank steak. I dusted down the meat with Cajun seasoning then to each of them, I added Zatarain's Jambalaya rice mix (half cooked then cooled), undercooked shrimp, andouille and a little fresh onion and diced peppers.
I then made a bacon weave for each and dusted the inside of the bacon weave with more cajun seasoning. I had some real trouble with the weave for the rolled flank steak -- it wasn't pretty. I used normal pork bacon for the sausage-based fattie and beef bacon for the flank steak, it was harder to work with and I also wanted extra bacon on top of the flank steak. And, into the smoker at 235 with pecan wood. The flank steak fattie is on the right.
After about an hour and a half, I opened it up, sprayed the fatties with my apple juice and bourbon mixture and added scotch eggs for the last hour or so (until the temp was about 165).
Pulled at about 3 hours, internal temp 165. Sorry about the following pictures, it was could and rainy outside and I didn't realize how much moisture was on the lens.
I planned to have the scotch eggs drip their fat onto the fatties but one leaked and added a little melted cheddar cheese too! LOL.
The flavor was great, everything was moist, the sausage was done and the flank steak was medium rare. I'd rather be lucky than good! Great experiment and I'll make it again but, I still haven't figured out how to best use beef bacon. I just can't seem to get it separated and pulled out right. No one could decide which they liked better and the leftovers were still great two days later. Next time, I'll use a thinner steak but the flank steak did pick up a nice smoke flavor, it was just tough to roll.
I then made a bacon weave for each and dusted the inside of the bacon weave with more cajun seasoning. I had some real trouble with the weave for the rolled flank steak -- it wasn't pretty. I used normal pork bacon for the sausage-based fattie and beef bacon for the flank steak, it was harder to work with and I also wanted extra bacon on top of the flank steak. And, into the smoker at 235 with pecan wood. The flank steak fattie is on the right.
After about an hour and a half, I opened it up, sprayed the fatties with my apple juice and bourbon mixture and added scotch eggs for the last hour or so (until the temp was about 165).
Pulled at about 3 hours, internal temp 165. Sorry about the following pictures, it was could and rainy outside and I didn't realize how much moisture was on the lens.
I planned to have the scotch eggs drip their fat onto the fatties but one leaked and added a little melted cheddar cheese too! LOL.
The flavor was great, everything was moist, the sausage was done and the flank steak was medium rare. I'd rather be lucky than good! Great experiment and I'll make it again but, I still haven't figured out how to best use beef bacon. I just can't seem to get it separated and pulled out right. No one could decide which they liked better and the leftovers were still great two days later. Next time, I'll use a thinner steak but the flank steak did pick up a nice smoke flavor, it was just tough to roll.
