ABTs - How I make them

[pacanis]

Atomic Buffalo Turds-ABTs


This is how I make mine.

Ingredients

Plump, not too long jalapeno peppers
1 cheddar filled Hillshire Farms Lil Smokie for each pepper
1 slice of bacon for each pepper
Cream cheese

An hour or so before building the peppers, take out the bacon and the cream cheese and let it warm up some. It will allow the cheese to spread more easily and the bacon to stretch and wrap more easily, sticking to itself so you won't need toothpicks.

Put on some latex gloves.

Cut the tops off the peppers, cut a slit in one side and clean out with a spoon. Removing the seeds and the veins will remove much of the heat.

Take the back of the spoon you used to clean the peppers with and spread some cream cheese in the pepper, using your thumb to hold the pepper open.


Place a Lil Smokie in the pepper.


Add more cream cheese with the back of the spoon, squeezing the pepper closed while doing so. Fill the slit and the end, working the back of the spoon like a putty knife. Do this to all the peppers you are making.


Now, time to handle the bacon. Things will get a little slippery here, but you'll get the hang of where best to grip the pepper. Lay the bacon over the cut end, capping it off in effect. Then I switch hands and use my right hand to grip the pepper and bacon flap and the left to handle wrapping the bacon. Stretch the bacon towards the other end of the pepper, catching the other end and wrapping the bacon back towards the cut end in a spiral motion. You will be wrapping the bacon over the flap of bacon you used to cap the open end, holding it in place. In order for you to have enough bacon to do this, you must stretch the bacon as you go. This will also allow the bacon to stick to itself, so you can leave the toothpicks in the cupboard. As you near the end of the pepper that was open, you will need to switch hands again.


And they should look like this.


Cook until done and the bacon gets a little crispy. If you are grilling, cook indirect, but smoking these produces the best ABT (IMO). I have smoked these anywhere from 2-1/2 hours to 4 and they have come out just fine. The ABTs are in front. Those are stuffed jalapeno mushrooms in the back, but that’s another post.

[BigAL]

Looks great, Pac Man! Nice job.

[TomatoMustard]

I started reading this post thinking that was an interesting name for a jalapeno popper... than I read on. I have never heard of these before but I am dumbfounded as to why I'm not making them as we speak. Nice job, sir!

[Dawgluver]

Wow. Great detailed pics and recipe with a very unique name! Will have to give them a try! Thanks, Pac!

[Andy M.]

Excellent tutorial, Fred.

If you have an addictive personality, you may want to arrange for an intervention and support team before you make these. Once eaten, addicted forever!

[Rocklobster]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Excellent tutorial, Fred.

If you have an addictive personality, you may want to arrange for an intervention and support team before you make these. Once eaten, addicted forever!

I have never actually eaten one yet, and I am already addicted. I have grilled them au natural , but never given them deluxe treatment like that. It's tomorrow I worry about.

[roadfix]

I like your method of adding the slits. I'll do them this way next time. Thanks!

[pacanis]

Thanks folks.
And Andy is right. They are very addictive. The next morning seems to be no problem at all either, but I clean my peppers really well.

[Snip 13]

Looks Scrummy "lick lips" :)

[buckytom]

nice thread, pac. good pics and info.

i tried making abt's without the lil smokies inside, and they were just missing something ( a little smoked sausage, duh).

i'm gonna try again soon the correct way, using your instructions since the pastrami worked out so well. thanks, man.