Smoked Sausage and Rice

There are a plethora of smoked meats to choose from at the local grocery store or meat market. I am sure they all taste as you would expect and have the smoky flavor you are looking for, but nothing replaces the experience of smoking your own meat. A few months ago, I was gifted some links of smoked sausage from the Green Dragon Flea Market here in my home town of Ephrata, PA. It was a phenomenal sausage and did not disappoint. I created a rice bowl style meal around it and it was quite tasty ~ meal you would desire on a cold fall or winter’s day. However, I wanted to try my hand at smoking my own sausage. A friend of ours had an entire hog butchered and was kind enough to share some pork sausage with us. After it spent some time in the freezer, I finally decided to take the opportunity to thaw it out and place it on the smoker. Then, after entrusting the smoked sausage to the seasoning with our Hickory Smoked Sea Salt, the ending result was a delicious Hickory Smoked Sausage and Rice dinner ~ fit for the whole family. 

Getting the sausage onto the smoker is priority number one. You can always choose whatever flavor of wood you would like to smoke with, but for this specific recipe, I chose hickory. The rule of thumb when smoking is this: the lower the temp, the more smoke will adhere to the meat, but you will have a longer cook time. The choice is yours, of course, so plan accordingly. I typically set the smoker to 250 degrees and it takes about an hour for the sausage to cook. Once the sausage is finished on the smoker, let it set and cool, and while this is taking place, begin to prep the rest of the ingredients. 

Grab a large pot and fill it with water. Place it on the stove top at high heat to begin the boiling process for the rice. Add regular table salt into the water to speed up the process. Finely chop the green bell pepper, red onion, garlic cloves, bacon, and place into a medium frying pan at medium heat. Feel free to add a drizzle of olive oil as you sauté. Season the ingredients with The Original Cold Smoked Salt and Pepper Co Hickory Smoked Sea Salt & Hickory Smoked Peppercorn. As the bacon and onions begin to caramelize, add a teaspoon of lemon juice and the can of peas and carrots. Continue to cook as you begin to lower the heat. 

Once your water is boiling, place the 4 cups of rice into the water. To save time, use bagged rice that can be thrown into the boiling water. It is much easier and no measuring is required. Let it boil for 10 minutes. If you choose another rice option, please following the instructions on the box. 

While the rice is cooking and your other ingredients are sautéing in the skillet, grab the sausage that has now cooled and begin to slice it into 1/4 inch thick discs and then cut them in half again. Place the sausage immediately into the skillet with the other ingredients and bring the heat back up to medium. As you continue this process, make sure to stir so nothing burns and season again with The Original Cold Smoked Salt and Pepper Co Hickory Smoked Sea Salt & Hickory Smoked Peppercorn.

After 1o minutes is up, drain and fluff the rice. Take your skillet full of smoky yummy goodness and pour it in with the rice. Stir until completely mixed. Grab a few cereal bowls and fill them up. Take some of the shredded cheddar cheese, place on top and allow to melt. Finally pull up a chair, grab your favorite drink, and sit down and enjoy!