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Sunday, July 13, 2008

How to make ABT's (Atomic Buffalo Turds)









I made some ABT's today. There are several variations of these popular bbq appetizers. Some use shrimp, some use pulled pork, some use cream cheese, but I chose one that favored sausage.
I've seen the peppers cut two different ways, so I tried both as a test. Some were sliced in half long ways and some were cut open long ways to make a pocket, but not in two pieces (see picture above). I prefer the pocket method best for the sausage stuffing.
I cleaned out the jalapenos, stuffed them with sausage, and topped it off with cheddar cheese. Then I wrapped the whole thing with bacon and cooked them on a medium hot grill for 20 minutes.
Things I learned for next time:
1) I prefer a sausage with more flavor. Using a mild sausage leaves the ABT more bland that I thought it would. Next time, I'm using Tennessee Pride.
2) The bacon wrap is unnessary if you use the pocket stuffing method (see above). If sliced in two pieces, the peppers need the bacon to hold it all in place. From now on I'm leaving the bacon off.
3) Instead of cooking on the grill, I'm going to try using the WSM without the water pan to lift the ABTs farther from the flame. This will allow the ABTs cook a little longer without scorching and burning.

3 comments:

Chris said...

I tried mine on the grill once and I wasn't very happy with them compared to usual. Normally we do them for 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the smoker while we're already smoking something else.

It's odd but I find ABT's have a smoother flavor and less heat when I smoke them on my offset than in the BGE. Haven't quite figured that one out yet, but it's consistent.

Anonymous said...

Try using your gloved-thumb to dig out the veins and seeds, instead of the spoon. In my experience it is much faster.

I'm not sure how well that will work for the 'pocket' method, but it works great for the halved peppers.

heidi said...

I think I may use this idea at our next bbq--they look tasty!