Anyone have a good Jalapeno popper Recipe?

bigchef1995

Thanks

Ozzie_Isaac

Look up ABT's  There are tons of variations out there under that name.

I like classic poppers with cream cheese and shreded cheese wrapped in bacon.  Cooked indirect around 300-400 degrees until the bacon is crispy.

SmokeyPitt

Here is a great tutorial from @NibbleMeThis  on the basic technique.
http://www.nibblemethis.com/2011/09/tailgate-heroes-abts.html

You can get creative and put whatever you like in them.  I like to use some Jimmy Dean sausage.  I will brown 1/2 lb of sausage and then mix that in with the cream cheese while the sausage is still hot to soften the cream cheese.  

Photo Egg

Hard to make a bad ABT...but my least fav so far was stuffed with real crab meat, and I love crab.

Like Ozzie said above, I still like the basics.
Don't try and go healthy with the cream cheese and use low fat. I melts and lumps funny to me.

I also like the Philadelphia in the small tubs and use chive and onion most os the time. The jalapeño is also good.

If you are going to use plain cream cheese mixing your fav rub in helps. Just don't do this to far in advance because the rub will make you cream cheese watery. Same goes for seasoning the bacon wrapped around the ABT. Don't season and wrap them up or seal in a zip-loc. Seasoning will start drawing out moisture and it will be a soggy mess. Season and wire rack rest in the fridge is good or just season on the grill. These are just my thoughts.

Some also like to dice up some little smokeys and mix into the cream cheese or add a whole one on top the cream cheese and then wrap in bacon. Some also freeze the little smokey to help keep the cream cheese cool to give the bacon more time to crisp. Other, like me, like to use thin slice bacon while many will par cook the bacon a bit first to give it a head start.

So many options and they are all good as long as you cook the bacon and get it a little crispy.

Have fun...and post some photos.

Ozzie_Isaac

One trick I have used is to partially cook the bacon in the microwave before you wrap.  That helps it to crisp better.

six_egg

I agree with Photo Egg. Use good cream cheese. I love to use a good hot sausage and mix it in the cream cheese. I sometime use bacon and sometimes just the cream cheese and sausage. I also use the filling for stuffed mushrooms.

bdub60

The last couple of times I've made ABTs I lost almost all of my cheese filling during the cooking process.  I think I may have gotten my temp up too high but I'm not positive.  Has anyone else had this issue before?

lousubcap

In addition to using about anything for the main course, use whatever you favor for the cheese.  My "go to" is a habanero pepper jack but will throttle down to just a pepper jack depending on who will be consuming.  FWIW-

fishlessman

i really havent found one i dont like. cream cheese with pulled pork, italian sausage, chourico, vidallia onion, peaches and blueberry, maraschino cherry and cayenne pepper dark chocolate.....im sure i missed a bunch peaches juice up with the jalapeno and seem to be hottest of all of them, i dust sugar on those, no bacon.  a whole proscuitto ham on the way, i see some shrimp abt's wrapped in proscuitto coming soon

Photo Egg

bdub60 said:

The last couple of times I've made ABTs I lost almost all of my cheese filling during the cooking process.  I think I may have gotten my temp up too high but I'm not positive.  Has anyone else had this issue before?

It can be a challenge at times to get the bacon crisp and not over cook the pepper and cheese to the point it squirts out.
Make sure your cheese and pepper are ice box cold before you wrap them and I normally leave my bacon out for 30 minutes or longer to soften so it cooks faster and stretches better when I wrap the pepper. As other have said above, par cooking the bacon also helps. Just not so much that it tears when you are wrapping the pepper.

Legume

pimento cheese makes a great filling, so does artichoke & jalapeno dip (Costco has good one, avail lots of places).

blind99

Cream cheese, slice of pineapple, wrapped in bacon, dusted with dizzy pig. 

HendersonTRKing

Saute sausage, drain, fold in cream cheese and shredded pepper jack, sprinkle in your favorite rub.  Stuff the mix into jalapenos, wrap with bacon if you've got a note from your cardiologist.  Sprinkle with more rub.  Grill.  Add some good bbq sauce toward the end.  Or omit the sauce.  Make more than you planned, bc there won't be leftovers.  

There's a zillion ways to do this and all of them are awesome.  To use a phrase often employed in another context:  "The worst jalapeno popper I ever had was fantastic."

bgebrent

This one is excellent, simple poppers, no bacon wrap.

 The link didn't work.

It's under "Italian Stuffed Jalapeños", it's a Fieri recipe (but a good one).

Toxarch

I just do cream cheese, colby jack, and cooked breakfast sausage mixed together, stuff the jalapeño, wrap in bacon, then cook.

Little Steven

I do the standard ABT process with shredded Gruyere, cream cheese, diced pineapple and one 31-40 ct shrimp in the middle

Mikee

Just made a batch of ABTs on Sunday; 8 peppers cut in half. Cooked two Johnsonville sausage patties while prepping the peppers. Sliced the patties and used them they way you would use the Little Smokies. I will add some heat to the cream cheese with other seasonings. My preference is to use thin bacon. It makes wrapping them easier. As I wrap I can stretch it to the point where I can put in a toothpick starting at the top. I cooked them at roughly 275* for 2.5 to 3 hours. Pull them as needed. With a two tier setup on the mini I can get 20-25 ABTs on it.

blasting

bdub60 said:

The last couple of times I've made ABTs I lost almost all of my cheese filling during the cooking process.  I think I may have gotten my temp up too high but I'm not positive.  Has anyone else had this issue before?

I cut the pepper so it looks like a canoe - stuff it with something - then put the pepper back together before wrapping with bacon.

I didn't use to put the top back on the pepper and ended up losing the good stuff - no more.

Thanks OP for the thread - ABT's are now on the menu for the weekend if not sooner.

Griffin

bdub60 said:

The last couple of times I've made ABTs I lost almost all of my cheese filling during the cooking process.  I think I may have gotten my temp up too high but I'm not positive.  Has anyone else had this issue before?

Don't cut the end off the pepper if you are slicing them in half. Gotta have the end on it to keep the filling in. Cook indirect and anywhere from 250-350 depending on what else you got on the Egg.

Killit_and_Grillit

I boil my jalapeños prior to grilling them and cook the bacon half way (beware if you boil in the house!!)

My favorite is dove breasts with cream cheese. 

Nathang

Take the original cream cheese version and season liberally with DP pineapple head, then grill raised indirect. The sweet heat combo is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!

RRP

Griffin said:

Don't cut the end off the pepper if you are slicing them in half. Gotta have the end on it to keep the filling in. 

I agree! I have seen people lop off the butt end and then wonder why their cheese melted and ran out! Instead I take a knife and run under the doily under the stem. Then I cut my pepper in half and presto I have a boat that will hold my cheese and sausage filling!

Mikee

Griffin said:

Don't cut the end off the pepper if you are slicing them in half. Gotta have the end on it to keep the filling in. Cook indirect and anywhere from 250-350 depending on what else you got on the Egg.

I try to slice down the center of the stem; it allows for picking up the jalapeno.

northGAcock

For those of you who have Publix Grocery in your area....they their spinach and artichoke dip....as a filling.....then wrapped in bacon. Brings me joy.

ToTheMax

I love the basic one.

Jalapeno, philadelphia cream cheese, little smokies, bacon.

I put a little bit of dizzy dust into the cream cheese, and a lot of red eye express on the bacon.

====

For family who doesn't like spicy food (yes, those exist). I've done a few variations.
1. Replaced the jalapeno with a small bell pepper. Turned our surprisingly decent
2. Removed the dizzy pig, added paprika and a little garlic.

Chubbs

Little smokies, pimento cheese, and some rub. Don't use thick cut bacon. Thinner the better. Cook them indirect. Drink 5 beers and check on them

Gasman77

Cream cheese mixed with some cheddar and DJ'a boudain then grill till tender. Also good if wrap with bacon. 

Jameson19

Here's how I roll. (Pics above) Core the jalepenos, fill with cream cheese, wrap in bacon and cook. I've found that a direct grilling maintains the spice, while smoking them until bacon is done loses the spice. Either way is great. Even people that don't care for spicy foods enjoy these. 

Variations: chop other peppers like serranos and habaneros to add to them and their seeds to the cream cheese to make it even spicier. Adding garlic, or your favorite seasoning mix, to the cream cheese makes for cool flavor profiles.

If you'd like to go real hot, mince a few habaneros, add them and their seeds to the cream cheese, then stuff back into a habanero that still has their cores and seeds intact. Wrap with bacon and grill/smoke them. Only a few die hard spice lovers will enjoy these. They will make parts of your mouth temporarily numb, but that's part of the fun... 

Hotch

Do a forum search for MPDs by @henapple .
The best ones yet.

Grillin_beers

Chubbs said:

Little smokies, pimento cheese, and some rub. Don't use thick cut bacon. Thinner the better. Cook them indirect. Drink 5 beers and check on them

That's exactly how I make mine. 

XLentEGG

8oz cream cheese , 8 0z chedderjack beaten until smooth, fill and wrap with low sodium bacon. goes on with the low and slow, , start looking in two hours.