Cookin' With Leo

By Leocthasme

I told you I'd keep you on the right track for lots of summer fun in the great outdoors, wherever. Now since you know you can do a turkey and a lot of things with yer outdoor BBQ grill, let's get on to some more of the finer things of living on the outside. Me an' my iron worker buddy, Charlie, figured we could do anything on a BBQ grill so we did. Here is how we done a Bologna on the pit. Everybody in the neighborhood showed up to watch this happening and since they all brung in their own party in a pack, we just invited them to stay and enjoy. The only one that didn't show up was my Dear Sweet Italian Fairy Godmother; she usually parties all summer long at the Annual Fairy Festival, wherever.

So, you wonder, who the devil wants to BBQ bologna? Well, the answer to that is, anyone with good taste. BBQ'd bologna will make everyday lunch meat taste like Sunday fixin's.

Stop right now and read this recipe before you go runnin' out to the super for bologna. You probably won't find the kind of bologna you will use to BBQ in a supermarket. Most ordinary bologna whole or sliced is covered with plastic and a plastic covered bologna will probably poison you if you attempt to BBQ it. So here is what you will need:

Go check out your friendly neighborhood butcher shop to get a whole bologna which is covered with natural casing and not plastic. Any other casing will not do at all and if it is not natural casing the Surgeon General will send his army after you. OK, you found one did you?

ONE Whole Bologna covered with Natural Casing.

Thread it on your rotisserie spit and center it. A whole bologna is pretty long so if you have a small store bought grill, this may not work for you unless you invest in one that is at least 'whole bologna length' in size (you can't do a half of bologna, it's all or nothing at all). Hint: all the natural juices will run out the cut end if you attempt to do a half bologna. You can BBQ thick slices on the grill but that is another story, an ya'll know, by now, my Business Agent let's me do one a month so that he can negotiate good contracts for me. How else would I be able to afford all this good cookin' I do here?

Set your rotisserie so that the bottom of the bologna is about 6 inches from the coals. A nice bed of hot, but not burning hot, coals is what you need. Turn on the rotisserie on slow speed and score the bologna skin with a knife as it turns, do this in a criss cross pattern (you know like xxxxxx all the way around), but don't cut too deep as all you are doing is making sure your baste flavor gets cooked in. Score means score not cut and gash. Juices and baste should cook in, not drip out.

And here is what you will baste with:
4 cans of Bud (we did one with 3 cans of Cocoa Cola, and 1 cup of Rum and that was flavored well too)
¼ cup Olive Oil, virgin or otherwise (I said olive oil not cookin' oil)
6 cloves of crushed garlic
½ cup A1 steak sauce with 1 tablespoon of dry mustard mixed in
½ cup of maple flavored syrup
1 tablespoon Louisiana Hot Sauce

Ok, mix all that together and brush it on the bologna as it turns and cooks.
Keep the coals from flaming up, if they do spray them with a spray bottle of water (no flames, just heat).

In about 2 hours the skin will be pretty dark and your bologna should be heated throughout and well flavored. So bring out a tossed salad, a bunch of buns and rye bread if you like that. Add some sliced onions, sliced jalapeno peppers, sliced tomatoes, lettuce leaves, and sandwich spreads that you like. Slice the bologna in, at least, ¼ inch slices and make your sandwiches. Some folks may like a slice of cheese on their sandwiches and the best kind for that is Swiss or Colby.