Tango Spice Test Kitchen: ABTs With Goat Cheese

This past Sunday was such a nice day after the biblical rains we had been 'enjoying'. Not too hot & very sunny made for a welcome change indeed. This was the perfect day for doing a few chores around the yard and cooking a little of this and a little of that. As always is the case, once the cooking begins it seems that even more ideas for goodies pop into your head.

Snacks! I needed a snack to munch on before the other stuff started to come off the grills. Lucky thing I had some peppers and cheese and other tasty stuff - INCLUDING BACON!

Here is the recipe for this day's version of ABTs (Atomic Buffalo Turds). The two basic ingredients never change, jalapenos & bacon. Once you have those two, your imagination can go wild and should only limited by what you have in the fridge.

So, without further ado, here they are…

ABTs with Goat Cheese & Smoked Sausage!

Ingredients:

6 Jalapenos / big ones, seeded & ribbed

6 Small Sweet Peppers / same size as the jalapenos, seeded & ribbed

(you can use 12 of either)

8 oz Goat Cheese

4 Slices Pepperoni Cheese / ask your deli person

1 to 2 TBS Prepared Horseradish / hot

1 Cup Smoked Sausage

Bacon / thin cut, any style

Tango Spice Southwest Sunset (or any other of our fine blends)

Directions:

Cut the tops off of the peppers, clean out the seeds and ribs.

Mix up the cheeses, horseradish & sausage in a bowl, combine real well.

Spoon mixture into the peppers, just to the top, do not over fill.

I use a jerky cannon to fill them, a pastry bag or a one gallon plastic bag with a corner snipped off will work just fine.

Lay the bacon out on a baking sheet, sprinkle with Southwest Sunset, then roll one slice around one pepper. It will go around more than once. Use a toothpick to secure.

Bring your smoker to temp, I was at 230, and place on the grill grate. Let them cook until the bacon is to your liking. The ones here were on the smoker for just about 2 1/2 hours.

Take them off, let them cool for a minute or two then enjoy these power packed snacks!

** If you are using a charcoal or gas grill, use indirect heat. Do not place ABTs directly over the heat or flame. Try to use medium heat at the most, and keep an eye on them so they do not burst into a bacon fueled conflagration!