PORK MONTH: From the Editor's Kitchen

I watch a lot of YouTube cooking videos. I'd like to claim all these hours spent staring at a screen have made me a better cook, but that would be a lie.

Sometimes, though, I'm able to plate a few palatable dishes. Some of them have even become hits among our family and friends, one of which is Smoked Shotgun Shells.

I took this recipe from the YouTube channel Meat Church. Some of you may be familiar with the company's spice rubs in grocery stores, two of which can be found in my cupboard. This recipe is a little time consuming, but it's pretty easy to make overall. I've made it twice and everyone has said they love them – at least to my face.

I smoke these on my charcoal grill. That may raise a few eyebrows, but the process is rather easy. Simply light a conservative pile of charcoal and add some soaked wood chips, offset it to the side closest to your bottom air vent, and stabilize the temperature to 300 degrees by using the aforementioned air vents. I always put a tin pan filled with beer or water on the side where the meat will be, too. I don't know what this does, but the internet said to do it.

I've tweaked Meat Church's recipe here to my own specs. If you're so inclined to try this dish, check out the video on their YouTube page beforehand. They do a great job explaining all their recipes and offering tips.

This is a great finger food to put out during a tailgate. There's no better way to celebrate Pork Month than with bacon, sausage and pigskin – bon appétit!

Ingredients

• 2 boxes manicotti shells

• 2 packages, regular-cut bacon

• 1 lb. 90\10 ground beef

• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage

• 8 oz. shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese

• 8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese

• Barbecue dry rub – your preference

• 1-cup sweet barbecue sauce

• Four roasted, peeled and deseeded jalapeño peppers – diced finely

• 1 tbsp. ground pepper

Preparation

Mix the Italian sausage, ground beef, diced peppers, shredded cheese and ground pepper in a large mixing bowl. Stuff each manicotti tube completely with the mixture. If you have kids, this a great time to take advantage of child labor. Their tiny fingers will work much better than your big, fat adult-sized nubs here.

Wrap each shell in one piece of bacon covering the shell as completely as possible. Take care while doing this – be as precise as possible, because it will pay dividends with the final product. You want to see as little shell as possible once you're done.

Season all sides of the shells with your seasoning of choice. I don't have a specific favorite, but I suggest leaning towards a sweeter flavor here. There's already a lot of salt in the bacon and meat.

Place the shells on a sheet pan and rest in the refrigerator at least 18 hours. The Meat Church video will say four hours is good enough, but I don't agree. Make these the day before cooking so you don't end up with a tough and chewy bite after the shells are cooked.

Cooking

As mentioned above, get your smoker temperature stabilized at 300 degrees. Place the shotgun shells on a baking rack and then put them into the smoker. Smoke for one hour, flipping over and turning them 90 degrees halfway through.

At one hour the ground meat will be above 165 internal temperature and the shells will be tender. Now, brush on the barbecue sauce and return to the smoker. Allow the sauce to tack up for 10-15 minutes.

Let these puppies rest for 10-20 minutes, slice into 1-inch pieces and enjoy!

Nick Pedley is the news editor and ad manager of The Hartley Sentinel/The Everly-Royal News.