Late notice party invite=excuse to try my first abt's! The teenage son had just finished all the milk, so I tried soaking them in a big bowl of cold water with a few tablespoons of sugar dissolved in it, just going out on a limb, since sugar is the other "antidote" when you eat a hot one. Didn't get any complaints about too much heat, so it either helped some or at least didn't hurt any. I had about 16-18 peppers, halved them right down the stem. The small end of my melon baller worked perfectly at getting out the seed and veins. They soaked a couple hours, and I changed the water once.
The filling: 8 oz. cream cheese, 2-3 pressed garlic cloves, 4 minced green onions, 1/2 tsp Old Bay (I use that stuff in practically everything!), generous 1/2 tsp each ground cumin and paprika, dash of Adobo lemon pepper, about 1/4 tsp. worchestershire - mixed that up, then added about 6 oz grated cheddar.
The cumin and paprika gave it just a bit of Mexican flavor, without being obviously taco-like. They also gave it a really nice color. I let it rest to develop flavor, 1-2 hours. After stuffing, each got a sliver of really good andouille from my butcher shop. I didn't pipe the stuffing in, just pressed it in with my little offset spatula. It's one of my very favorite tools.
did a 1/2 slice bacon wrap. most of them held ok.
After I got them all wrapped, I used a small sieve and sprinkled just a dusting of brown sugar over the tops.
Put them in the CSE, set to 250, not preheated. About 1-1/2 oz. chips apple? alder? my bad-forgot to note.
They were done in about one hour and ten minutes.
They were a success, of course! People loved the layers of flavor that the spice mixture brought in. They had to be transported, so they went into a foil pan and got reheated in the oven at the party. No texture issues on the bacon.
can't wait for my next exuse to make some! thanks for looking!
The filling: 8 oz. cream cheese, 2-3 pressed garlic cloves, 4 minced green onions, 1/2 tsp Old Bay (I use that stuff in practically everything!), generous 1/2 tsp each ground cumin and paprika, dash of Adobo lemon pepper, about 1/4 tsp. worchestershire - mixed that up, then added about 6 oz grated cheddar.
The cumin and paprika gave it just a bit of Mexican flavor, without being obviously taco-like. They also gave it a really nice color. I let it rest to develop flavor, 1-2 hours. After stuffing, each got a sliver of really good andouille from my butcher shop. I didn't pipe the stuffing in, just pressed it in with my little offset spatula. It's one of my very favorite tools.
did a 1/2 slice bacon wrap. most of them held ok.
After I got them all wrapped, I used a small sieve and sprinkled just a dusting of brown sugar over the tops.
Put them in the CSE, set to 250, not preheated. About 1-1/2 oz. chips apple? alder? my bad-forgot to note.
They were done in about one hour and ten minutes.
They were a success, of course! People loved the layers of flavor that the spice mixture brought in. They had to be transported, so they went into a foil pan and got reheated in the oven at the party. No texture issues on the bacon.
can't wait for my next exuse to make some! thanks for looking!