I'm honored to be the Judges' Choice Winner of the October Throwdown! Thanks again to the judges,
bmudd14474
for coordinating the competition, @TomKnollRFV for drumming up enthusiasm and encouraging everyone to enter, and @bvbull200 and @TulsaJeff for putting up great prizes!
Without further delay, here is my recipe for these Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Apples,
Prep time: 45 min Smoke time: 45min. - 1 hour
Smoke Temp: 250℉ Wood: Pecan
4 Granny Smith apples (firm, tart apples) hollowed out with melon baller
1 cup apple pieces
1 lemon
2 Jalapenos, fine dice
2 cups Country Ham, medium dice
2 - 4 oz Manchego cheese, small dice
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
8 - 12 slices regular cut bacon
Glaze:
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs Apple cider
3 Tbs Honey
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (taste and add to your liking)
1. Ready a bowl of cold water big enough to fit your apples. Boil your apples for two minutes to remove wax coating. Remove apples to cold water to stop cooking process.
Wax left behind in the water.
2. Dice up jalapenos, cheese, and ham. You'll see that 2 of the apples have cheddar in them. This recipe was an experiment, and the cheddar came out gloopy in the end. Manchego is a harder cheese that holds its shape and was more pleasing in taste and appearance. Manchego can be found from fresh to aged 2 years. The Manchego in this recipe was aged 6 months, and is known as Manchego Curado. If you can't use Manchego, you can substitute Romano or Asiago. Manchego is similar in texture and flavor to parmesan, but with less salt. The bacon and ham are salty enough. If you use parmesan, you can reduce the amount of cheese to keep it from being too salty.
3. Cut lemon. Hollow out apples. Toss apple chunks and rub interior of apple with lemon juice to prevent browning. (Orange, lime, or grapefruit juice can be used instead of lemon.) Do this as you go for each apple and 1 cup of chunks because they begin to turn brown immediately. Discard rough and seeded areas from the core of the apple.
4. Mix all diced ingredients and add black pepper. Set aside.
5. Wrap 2-3 strips of bacon around each apple. Stretch a bit as you wrap and try not to overlap to help bacon crisp when it cooks. Secure with toothpicks.
6. Stuff apples with your filling, pressing down with fingers and packing in tightly.
7. Preheat smoker to 250℉. Put in your apples. Mix your glaze.
8. Smoke to 145℉ internal temperature, with probe in center of stuffing. This takes 45 minutes to an hour. BUT, begin applying your glaze at 135℉ IT, and reapply every 5-10 minutes until the IT hits 145℉. At 135℉ IT, you can put your apples under your oven broiler on low to finish crisping bacon and set the glaze. I brought the apples up to 165℉ IT in the smoker and then put them under the broiler on low to set the glaze, applying it twice in about 10 minutes. Taking them to 165℉ and then glazing them caused the apples to start breaking down, as if some bites were more cooked than others.
Before glaze:
After glaze and oven broil on low:
Overall, the filling and the glaze were great. The filling doesn't have anything in it to bind it, so it's a loose filling. This allows you to get some smoked bits mixed with unsmoked inside bits as you eat. That way there's more variety of smoked flavors without being overwhelming. The Granny Smith apples were quite tart. My feeling is that your satisfaction with the apple flavor will be based on your personal preference. A firm apple is necessary to hold the shape. As for the flavor, a less tart or even sweet variety might be good too. The apple could be a fun way to smoke and serve stuffing! I also think the filing would be great in a potato. For this, I'd bake the potato first and then hollow it out. Cut a bit off the bottom to make a flat base so it will stand.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
bmudd14474
for coordinating the competition, @TomKnollRFV for drumming up enthusiasm and encouraging everyone to enter, and @bvbull200 and @TulsaJeff for putting up great prizes!Without further delay, here is my recipe for these Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Apples,
Prep time: 45 min Smoke time: 45min. - 1 hour
Smoke Temp: 250℉ Wood: Pecan
4 Granny Smith apples (firm, tart apples) hollowed out with melon baller
1 cup apple pieces
1 lemon
2 Jalapenos, fine dice
2 cups Country Ham, medium dice
2 - 4 oz Manchego cheese, small dice
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
8 - 12 slices regular cut bacon
Glaze:
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 Tbs Apple cider
3 Tbs Honey
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (taste and add to your liking)
1. Ready a bowl of cold water big enough to fit your apples. Boil your apples for two minutes to remove wax coating. Remove apples to cold water to stop cooking process.
Wax left behind in the water.
2. Dice up jalapenos, cheese, and ham. You'll see that 2 of the apples have cheddar in them. This recipe was an experiment, and the cheddar came out gloopy in the end. Manchego is a harder cheese that holds its shape and was more pleasing in taste and appearance. Manchego can be found from fresh to aged 2 years. The Manchego in this recipe was aged 6 months, and is known as Manchego Curado. If you can't use Manchego, you can substitute Romano or Asiago. Manchego is similar in texture and flavor to parmesan, but with less salt. The bacon and ham are salty enough. If you use parmesan, you can reduce the amount of cheese to keep it from being too salty.
3. Cut lemon. Hollow out apples. Toss apple chunks and rub interior of apple with lemon juice to prevent browning. (Orange, lime, or grapefruit juice can be used instead of lemon.) Do this as you go for each apple and 1 cup of chunks because they begin to turn brown immediately. Discard rough and seeded areas from the core of the apple.
4. Mix all diced ingredients and add black pepper. Set aside.
5. Wrap 2-3 strips of bacon around each apple. Stretch a bit as you wrap and try not to overlap to help bacon crisp when it cooks. Secure with toothpicks.
6. Stuff apples with your filling, pressing down with fingers and packing in tightly.
7. Preheat smoker to 250℉. Put in your apples. Mix your glaze.
8. Smoke to 145℉ internal temperature, with probe in center of stuffing. This takes 45 minutes to an hour. BUT, begin applying your glaze at 135℉ IT, and reapply every 5-10 minutes until the IT hits 145℉. At 135℉ IT, you can put your apples under your oven broiler on low to finish crisping bacon and set the glaze. I brought the apples up to 165℉ IT in the smoker and then put them under the broiler on low to set the glaze, applying it twice in about 10 minutes. Taking them to 165℉ and then glazing them caused the apples to start breaking down, as if some bites were more cooked than others.
Before glaze:
After glaze and oven broil on low:
Overall, the filling and the glaze were great. The filling doesn't have anything in it to bind it, so it's a loose filling. This allows you to get some smoked bits mixed with unsmoked inside bits as you eat. That way there's more variety of smoked flavors without being overwhelming. The Granny Smith apples were quite tart. My feeling is that your satisfaction with the apple flavor will be based on your personal preference. A firm apple is necessary to hold the shape. As for the flavor, a less tart or even sweet variety might be good too. The apple could be a fun way to smoke and serve stuffing! I also think the filing would be great in a potato. For this, I'd bake the potato first and then hollow it out. Cut a bit off the bottom to make a flat base so it will stand.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
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