The world of sausages is large and consists of any kind of meat mixture (or fish, or even vegetable if you want to get loose about it) that is stuffed into a casing, and they’ve existed as a way to preserve food—let’s be honest, it started with meat—since antiquity. Sausages encompass everything from American hot dogs to French saucisson, to German bratwurst, to Italian salami, to Portuguese chorizo, to an entire system of traditional British sausages. In southern Georgia, the sausage of choice is smoked sausage. I’m talking about Polish kielbasa-style sausage that’s made with coarsely ground pork, seasoned heavily with sage, garlic, and black pepper, and then is smoked to perfection so that it comes in big, fat, brown-red rings. It’s salty and lusty and really good with a cold pilsner. It’s also very, very versatile. Here are my two favorite ways of enjoying smoked sausage.

　　

Ingredients

Grilled Sausage

1 pound smoked sausage, sliced crosswise into quarters and then in half lengthwise

　　4 fresh hoagie rolls

　　4 tablespoons hot pickle relish

　　4 teaspoons prepared mustard, preferably spicy brown

　　(serves 4)

　　

Redneck Sausage Hors d’Oeuvres

1 pound smoked sausage, cut into rounds about 1/2 inch thick

　　3 cups Jack’s Old South Original Rub, or 1 recipe Basic Barbecue Rub (page 20)

　　3 cups Jack’s Old South Hickory Sauce, or 1 recipe Basic Hickory Sauce (page 22)

　　(serves 4)

　　

Grilled Sausage

Step 1

Build a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill.

　　

Step 2

Place the sausages on the cooking grate over direct medium heat. Cook, turning them occasionally to mark all sides, until the skin starts to split, 6 to 8 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Slide the sausages onto the buns and top with the hot relish and mustard.

　　

Redneck Sausage Hors d’Oeuvres

Step 4

Heat a smoker to 300˚F.

　　

Step 5

Place the sausage slices in a single layer on an aluminum baking pan, and sprinkle them liberally with the rub. Put the pan in the smoker and let the sausages smoke for 45 minutes. Check occasionally to make sure they’re not sticking to the pan.

　　

Step 6

Remove the pan from the smoker, and toss the sausages with the hickory sauce. Place toothpicks in the slices and arrange on a platter. And there you have it: redneck hors d’oeuvres.

　　Reprinted with permission from Smokin' with Myron Mixon by Myron Dixon with Kelly Alexander, © 2011 Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House. Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.