Vegetarian ABTs?!

[rabq]

Well I am a long time lurker who has been smoking meat for three years thanks to all the great ideas, instructions and insights from you all!

I'm entered in my first rib cook-off in a few weeks and couldn't be more excited.  I'm feeling good about my ribs and yard birds but there is a category for vegetarian that I'm less sure about.

I'm thinking of doing vegetarian ABT's, skipping the bacon (blasphemy, I know!!).  I'd love to hear your thoughts on if this would work.  Obviously they won't be genuine ABT's and won't be as delicious, but do you think they'd still be ok?

Has anybody done ABT's w/o bacon and made a more substantial filling?  I'm thinking maybe grilled veggies mixed into the filling.

Please let me know what you think - I wouldn't even be entered in this competition if it wasn't for all the great wisdom I've picked up from you all here!

 

[rw willy]

how about a zuccini spear?  Maybe stuffed  with kale and garlic?  I would precook the zuc.  And the kale also.  Try cabbage or sauerkraut.

Good luck

 

[ttosmoker]

One of my favorite fillings for ABTs and chile rellenos is refried beans since I am not fond of cream cheese.  I make my own refried beans from dried beans (pinto and black) and load the beans with a puree of garlic, onion, oregano, and cumin, at a minimum.  Cilantro too if I have it fresh.  I also add to the refried beans a puree various types of chiles, such as jalapenos and serranos, most especially red ones.  This is also good using poblanos as the boat (edit) especially if you can find red poblanos (MMMM!).  I don't know if your definition of vegetarian excludes cheese, but sharp cheddar is really good with the beans.

I've got some epazote arriving today, and that is the next ingredient I will try in the beans.

 

[mballi3011]

now you could do some ABT's with just cream cheese and maybe some seafood stuffings. Or that zucchini cut in half and hollowed out is really good but I didn't stuff it with anything vegitarifh]nzoje what. I'm ameat kind of guy and I think there should be meat in abt's too. But you can make some good stuffing with some other veggies stuffings. I know I made a black bean stuffing that would be really good. It was like black beans and rice shoved into the zucchini all hollowed out and they were rally yummy too.

 

[rabq]

Wow, these ideas are great, thank you - all your creativity is getting my wheels turning. I've never made my own refrieds but I thin now is the time to try.  Today I'll be doing some experimenting, I'm also going to try chipotle mac and cheese stuffed in the jalapenos.  Will let you know my results!

 

[ak1]

What about using some portobello mushrooms sliced thin and lightly sauteed just to soften, Then wrap those around the ABT instead of bacon?

 

[ttosmoker]

 I've never made my own refrieds but I thin now is the time to try. 

 I'm curious to know how the chipotle M&C ABTs turned out.  I love chipotle M&C, but I don't get it very often because my daughter won't eat hot foods.

Refried beans are easy technique-wise, but require time.  Make 'em once, though, and you'll never go back to the canned kind!  Starting from dried beans is especially good because you can use the pot liquor you get in place of any broth.  But even starting from canned (whole) beans makes a world of difference, and are great if you need refried beans in a hurry.

 

[rabq]

Chipotle mac and cheese abts were very good but I'd stop short of calling them great great.  A few things did that I'd do differently next time:

I baked the mac and cheese, then stuffed the peppers and smoked them, so the m&c was a little dry/overcooked.  Next time I wouldn't bake it before smoking.

Without using bacon to wrap the pepper and hold everything together, the jalapenos lost a lost of shape.  if I wasn't making these for a vegetarian category I'm absolutely use bacon and these would be transcendent.

I also had to smoke these at 350*, due to space constraints during the competition (the veg entry will have to be cooked in the same smoker with the chicken category)

For the competition I decided to just smoke the whole pan of m&c (with caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms mixed in) topped with cornbread breadcrumbs.  Here is the link to the recipe I used: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/f...Garlic-Bread-Crumbs-Plain-and-Chipotle-102738  

It's a little less creative than some earlier ideas but the taste is out of this world.  Plus, it will be easier to cook/serve to the crowd.

At the end of the day, I'm most excited to do my ribs for the judges, so this category is just gravy!