Deer season is over, turkey season is about to began, which for me is an excuse to cook ridiculously impractical comfort food, and one of my favorites is something I call a “Fatty.” The options are nearly endless as to what kind of meat to use and which fillings to stuff it with, but I’ve never had a combination that wasn’t a crowd pleaser. My latest creation utilized Italian sausage made of the deer from this year’s shotgun season, as well as an onion, some peppers, cheese, and of course bacon. The basic operation starts with about a pound and a half of ground meat. Place the meat in a gallon freezer bag and roll it out so you have a flat square of meat.
Once you have your meat rolled out, make a bacon weave using a pound of bacon. A 7×7 pattern of strips is roughly the same size as your meat “patty.” An easy way to make a great weave is lay out seven strips of bacon in a row. Pull back every other strip and lay another strip across the grid. Fold the strips back over the cross strip and then pull back the opposing strips. Continue alternating rows until you have a woven mat of bacon. Next, open the seal on your freezer bag and carefully cut one side and the bottom seam out so you can open the bag like a door.
Transfer your meat patty onto the bacon weave. At this point you can use your imagination to stuff your fatty with whatever you like. Cheese, more bacon, scrambled eggs, vegetables, there are no wrong answers here. You can also use rubs or seasoning inside your fatty. This time I covered the ground meat with a homemade Carolina style rub, then I used alternating chunks of Velveeta and Monterey jack cheese topped with chopped onions and sweet peppers sautéed with some garlic. After you have your filling in place, roll up the patty and bacon weave making sure to get a good seal on the ends.
I like to refrigerate everything for an hour or two at this point to help everything set so it holds together in the smoker. This isn’t necessary but I’ve found it to be helpful. I prefer these smoked, but you can also bake them in the oven if you don’t have a smoker. I generally use a mixture of hickory and apple wood for smoke cooking at approximately 210 degrees until the internal temp hits 135 or so. This will usually be between two and three hours. At that point I’ll remove the fatty from the smoker and finish it in the oven at 325 for twenty minutes. This will give you nice crispy bacon and make sure everything is thoroughly cooked. After the oven, I like to wrap in foil and towels to let it rest, then slice it up and serve.
