How many of you enjoyed the beautiful weather this past weekend? Wasn’t it wonderful!? It was a certain reminder that Spring is on its way. My husband got our potatoes planted and I started seeds for herbs and marigolds. Besides gardening, Spring time and warmer weather gets me excited about firing up the grill. There is something about being outside while the grill is smoking, kids are playing, seeing the blooms and buds of all the green waking up from winter’s nap.
A couple of years ago, our buddy / neighbor Clint showed me a recipe for blooming bologna. Yes, you heard it right, blooming bologna. I was intrigued and had to give it a try. We like bologna, being affordable and the kid’s love it! This recipe was a crowd pleaser and can be served in different ways, being a lot of fun.
You want to start by finding you some 1 ½” pieces of wood chunks. They can be square or round, and stand about 1” tall. We use oak, of course, either square chunks or a cut limb in round pieces. This acts like a stand for your bologna to sit on. You want it raised just enough for the bologna to hang down, causing the blooming effect. It’s satisfying as you watch it cook, it gets those burnt ends you want.
Ingredients:
One stick of whole bologna.
Oil (I use Olive oil) BBQ rub of your choice BBQ sauce of your choice Slice your bologna in 4 to 5” pieces. Now, you want to score it into cubed sections, making sure you don’t cut it all the way through to the bottom. I use a thick knife that’s probably an inch or so narrower than the piece of bologna. As I push it down to cut, I only go down to the top of the knife and come back up. That leaves your bologna attached at the bottom.
Rub it down in oil, and sprinkle your seasoning all over, rubbing it in. Get in those cracks without tearing it up.
It’s time to go on the grill! You’re going to grill it indirect heat. Place your little chunks of wood on the grill rack and easily set the bologna on top of each piece of wood, with the blooms facing up. Grill it for 45 minutes before applying your sauce. After mopping it down good, cook for an additional 30 minutes or until it’s charred and done to your liking! There are no rules at this point, burn it if you know what’s good. Ha! When serving this bologna, you can let people pull the blooms off as they eat, or you can cut it up to serve. I like making it into a charcuterie platter, with crackers, cheese, pickles, etc.
You will really enjoy this. It has all the things to love, with it’s burnt ends and resemblance to something BBQ’d you’ve worked on all day. It’s fun and easy!
Enjoy! And God Bless you all. Remember, hold your HEAD up during the storm.
