# 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.


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## BigAL

Looks great, Pac Man!  Nice job.


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## 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!


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## Dawgluver

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


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## 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!


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## Rocklobster

Andy M. said:


> 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.


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## roadfix

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


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## 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.


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## Snip 13

Looks Scrummy "lick lips"


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## 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.


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## TATTRAT

Well, the name made me LOL, but this is going on the list!! LOVE IT!

I use to do something similar, but sans smokie. Add Lump Crab and roast corn.


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## pacanis

buckytom said:


> 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.


 
Cool. Thanks.


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## sparrowgrass

A timely thread--I just picked a bucketful of Mucho Nacho jalapenos last night.  (I knew better than planting 6 plants--but I had a bad case of garden fever back in May, that affected my judgement.)


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## Rocklobster

Here is my first attempt. I loved them, by the way. Will deffinitely do them again. I didn't have any little smokies, I don't even know if they are available around here.  I used a bit of green onion, paprika and chopped Calabrese sausage in the cheese filling. I cooked them on the bbq in a tin foil plate. They turned out good, but the peppers were a bit big and the bacon really shrunk back. I was afraid of burning, so I played around with them a bit much, so a couple of them started to fall apart. Tasted the same though. Good stuff. Thumbs up!


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## pacanis

If I run into big Jalapeños I cut more of the cap off and use it for something else.

Good first attempt. Why did you use a pan though?


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## Rocklobster

pacanis said:


> If I run into big Jalapeños I cut more of the cap off and use it for something else.
> 
> Good first attempt. Why did you use a pan though?


I was afraid of flare ups. Or having them stick to the grates and pull apart when I went to turn them. Plus, I have a small grill surface on my little barrel smoker/bbq and you can't adjust the height so the pan is a good way to move stuff around quickly and in an organized manner. I don't normally use pans, but this time was just to be able to control things a bit better.


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## Rocklobster

pacanis said:


> If I run into big Jalapeños I cut more of the cap off and use it for something else.
> ?


 
I read that some university has developed a hybrid that is as large as a bell pepper. That would be one wopper of a turd....


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## Andy M.

No reason you couldn't use any other kind of pepper.


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## BigAL

Andy M. said:


> No reason you couldn't use any other kind of pepper.


 
Anaheim's are great!  More meat & cheese stuffing, add strips of jalop's to kick it up.


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## Andy M.

BigAL said:


> Anaheim's are great!  More meat & cheese stuffing, add strips of jalop's to kick it up.



Now it's a meal!  Sign me up!


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## Rocklobster

Those aren't available up here.  I'll just eat a half dozen jalapenos...


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## Palladini

I make these, only no little smokies, just some 6 year old white cheddar cheese i put in after cleaning the peppers and the wrap in bacon.  If you visit smokingmeatfourums.com, they have several versions of these on the treads there


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## Addie

I know this thread is three years old, but just wanted to comment,

Great Pictorial Pac.


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## pacanis

Why thank you, Addie


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## Alix

Rocklobster, Costco sells Lil Smokies. They have them in 3 packs. Two hickory flavored and one mozza stuffed.


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## Roll_Bones

pacanis said:


> 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.



I have a fix for morning after heat.  Drink one glass of "Metamucil" or similar fiber supplement before bed.  It really does work.



sparrowgrass said:


> A timely thread--I just picked a bucketful of Mucho Nacho jalapenos last night.  (I knew better than planting 6 plants--but I had a bad case of garden fever back in May, that affected my judgement.)



You are not the only one.  I have more than I need and no room for the two flats of bell pepper and eggplant.
I had to grow my cukes up a trellis type deal as there was no room for them.  To many red bell pepper plants was my problem.
I used seeds and got much more than expected.


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## Addie

I remember the kitchen garden we had as a kid. They were always planted with seeds. There was no running to Home Depot for a  flat or two of your choice. I loved that garden. It was where I always got my lunch without having to go into the house.


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## Roll_Bones

Addie said:


> I remember the kitchen garden we had as a kid. They were always planted with seeds. There was no running to Home Depot for a  flat or two of your choice. I loved that garden. It was where I always got my lunch without having to go into the house.



Since vegetable plants are available, I have used them for years.  But the problem is, they do not always have the plants I want.
This became apparent  when I could not find Poblamo pepper plants.

So I bought some to cook with and saved the seeds.
I also did this with those nice big red bells from Louisiana. Forget the name.  Starts with a "G".
I was concerned they might have been genetically modified in some way to prevent the seeds from germinating. 
Turns out they all germinate very well and do not cost anything. I am now using seeds from a couple generations back.
Problem is I get way more plants than I need.  Good thing I will have plenty more seeds as we eat this summers harvest.  I will save again each season.
I wish I had been saving seeds from the very beginning.  Its much more rewarding and less expensive to grow with seeds.  But it is triple the work.

From flat to cup, then to garden, takes time and effort.


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## Addie

There are several places that have saved heirloom seeds. In order to not deplete the supply, all they ask is that you save the seeds from your plants, and send half back to them. 

Seed Savers Exchange - Organic, Heirloom Garden Seed Info & Store

It is because of this practice that we are now able to enjoy the great taste of heirloom tomatoes.


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