I hang around the Smoking Meat Forums which is a forum of guys into smoking food. I have learned a lot there. They have what they call a throwdown where you cook something on a theme. The last throwdown was to make a fatty.
For the uninitiated, a fatty is traditionally sausage meat wrapped around a filling and then wrapped in a weave of bacon. The package is them smoked. Now, they are made with hamburger, ground chicken or any other ground meat that strikes your fancy.
I decided to risk my nonexistent reputation and give it a try.
I love enchiladas so how about doing one inside out. The filling would be on the outside and the tortilla would be on the inside. Crazy but so am I.
I decided to base my fatty on a stepped up sausage, chorizo. Chorizo is a spicy Spanish or Mexican sausage. I made up a batch from my post Bulk Chorizo. You can also buy fresh chorizo in a lot of supermarkets. You will need 500 grams (1 pound) of chorizo for the fatty. If you are buying it, take it out of the casings before weighing it.
I also made enchilada sauce. You can use the sauce from my post on Chorizo Enchiladas or you can buy jarred or canned enchilada sauce.
Take a large resealable plastic bag, Ziploc or similar, and cut 1/4 inch of each bottom corner. This allows air to escape while you are rolling your fatty.
Put the sausage in the bag and seal it. Use a rolling pin to squeeze the sausage to all edges and corners of the bag. You are trying to get an even square of sausage. cut down the sides of the bag with a sharp knife and uncover the top of the rolled sausage.
Turn the sausage over onto a strip of waxed paper and remove the bag. Spread the refried beans over sausage, leaving a one inch space around 3 edges for sealing later.
Spread the enchilada sauce over the refried beans. Sprinkle the cheese over the enchilada sauce. Warm the tortillas and cut them into rectangles and cover the cheese.
Using the wax paper to help you lift the side with no space, slowly roll the sausage into a spiral, jelly roll fashion. Seal the edge and the ends by pinching the sausage a little.
Put the now formed fatty on a piece of plastic wrap. Roll it in the wrap like a candy. Grasp the ends of the wrap and roll the fatty on the counter so it is compressed by the plastic wrap. This will give a nicely formed fatty.
Put the fatty in the freezer for a couple of hours. It is easier to wrap in bacon if it is a little frozen.
Make a bacon weave. How many strips of bacon you will need depends on how wide the strips are. Lay one strip of bacon left to right on the counter. Put one strip at a right angle with one end under the first strip. Place a second strip next to it with its end over the first strip. Continue until you have enough strips to be the same width as the first strip.
Fold over every strip that is under the first strip. Lay another piece left to right over the strips that haven’t been folded over. Unfold the strips.
Now fold over the strips that are under the second strip. Lay another left to right and unfold. Continue until you have a square bacon weave.
Take the plastic wrap off the fatty. Roll it in the bacon weave and put the bacon seam on the bottom.
I put the fatty in my smoker over oak smoke at 230 F. It took about 2 hours to get to an internal temperature of 165 F.
If you don’t have a smoker get one.
If you don’t want to get one, you could cook it for about 45 minutes in a 350 F oven. Make sure the internal temperature gets to at least 165 F. It will be great but it won’t be smokey.
The Verdict
Much to my shock, my fatty won the Viewer’s Choice Award where the forum members vote for the fatty they like best. This is very humbling as these guys are very talented. I can only figure they were medicated when they were voting.
I do like the fatty though. The spicy chorizo is offset by the creamy beans, rich cheese and the tortilla gives it a great spiral effect. I will be making it again.
The Old Fat Guy
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 500 grams (1 pound) fresh chorizo sausage
- 250 ml (1 cup) refried beans
- 250 ml (1 cup) enchilada sauce
- 375 ml (1 1/2 cup) grated cheddar
- 2 eight inch tortillas
- 350 grams (3/4 pound) bacon
Instructions
- Cut 1/4 inch off the bottom corners of a large resealable storage bag (Ziploc).
- Put the sausage into the bag and use a rolling pin to roll it flat to all edges and corners. You are making an even square of sausage.
- Slice off the top half of the bag.
- Turn the sausage square over onto a sheet of wax paper.
- Remove the other 1/2 of the bag.
- Spread the refried beans on the sausage leaving a 1 inch space from 3 of the edges so you will be able to seal it later.
- Spread the enchilada sauce over the refried beans.
- Sprinkle the cheddar over the enchilada sauce.
- Cut the tortillas into rectangles and cover the cheese and sauces.
- Using the was paper to lift the edge without the space, slowly roll the sausage like a jelly roll.
- Lightly pinch the ends and seam to seal
- Put the formed fatty onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around the fatty like a candy.
- Grasp the ends of the plastic wrap and roll the fatty on the counter to compress it.
- Put the fatty in the freezer for 2 hours.
- Take a strip of bacon and lay it on the counter left to right in front of you.
- Take a second strip and put its end under the end of the first strip and lay it at a right angle to the first.
- Put a third strip next to the second with its end on top of the first strip.
- Continue alternating strips over and under the first strip until you have enough cross strips to match the length of the first strip.
- Fold over every strip that is under the first strip.
- Lay another strip next to the first strip.
- Unfold the strips.
- Fold over every strip that is under the last cross strip.
- Lay another cross strip.
- Continue unfolding and laying another strip until you have a square bacon weave.
- Take off the plastic wrap and roll the fatty in the bacon weave.
- Put the seam of the bacon weave on the bottom.
- Smoke your fatty at 230 F until the internal temperature is 165 F (about 2 hours).
- If you don't have a smoker, you can cook it in an 350 F oven for about 40 minutes. Make sure the internal temperature is 165 F.
- Slice and serve
10 Responses
Congratulations! I’m not surprised you won, that looks great! Well done 😉
Har! I am surprised. I thought some of the other entries were pretty impressive. Thanks for the kind words.
Congratulations on your win, I would say well deserved. This is genius!!! and looks delicious. you are truly a master of the grill 🙂
Thanks, Sam. I was pretty lucky to win. There are some good smokers on that forum.
I think we need to be neighbors! I would love to taste test some of your creations!
Har! How kind. However, I suspect I would get the best of that arrangement after having seen your blog.
Heh. Roll up a fatty and get smokin’.
Congratulations on the win! You know, if you got a stall at a state fair and served those things wrapped up like burritos, you would make… I dunno. A lot of money. A lotta lot.
Thanks, Josh. Being Canadian it would have to be a provincial fair. As for making a lot of money, I am out of the money making business and into fun since I retired.
Congratulations David, that is awesome! Your Inside Out Enchilada Fatty looks incredible. That is some creative stuff! You go! I think this recipe would be a huge hit with my son and his friends. They are all about meat and bacon!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words. If your son and his friends like meat and bacon, try a hamburger fatty. Use hamburger instead of the chorizo. Fill it with onions, cheddar cheese and chopped tomatoes. Wrap it in the bacon weave and bake or smoke it. Slice it and serve it like a hamburger on buns with toppings. It is a big hit with every young man I have met.