Easy appetizers suggestions for Christmas Eve

ABTs. Nice and easy with little involvement.

BugFreak72 said:

ABTs. Nice and easy with little involvement.

I don't know how you crank out ABT's.  For me they are preparatory labor intensive, given cleaning out the peppers and preparing the filling.  I will gladly take a streamlined process as I have gone thru around 100 in the past three days and am finished for a while. 

Norah Grace made these the other day and they’re amazing. Grilled “stuffed” peppers a new favorite in our house.  
Started with 1lb of 80/20 mixed with 1/2lb of ground pork.   Seasoned with Bearded Butcher Chipotle.  

Mixed and seasone the meat with above seasoning, browned in a cast iron skillet on the xl egg. Added 1 can of black beans and  a tad more seasoning.  Sliced the peppers and put the filling on top.   Used Cleveland Wiskey Smoker Bricxs for smoke flavor and the best charcoal known to man ROCKWOOD.  Egg set to 250 once peppers started to get soft topped with a little home smoked cheese.  

@BugFreak72 thanks for the response.  I go in a different direction.  I split and deseed and devein the pepper.  Then load with a filling that usually consists of point of cook chorizo or some other spicy sausage or whatever other protein may be in the left-over category; pulled pork, brisket, chix etc blended with melted pepper jack or habanero cheese.  Once loaded then bacon wrap and toss on the BGE.  Never go with less than 30 or so at a shot.  FWIW-

Cook up some sausages and cut them into bite size pieces. Get 3-4 different kinds of mustard. Doesn’t get easier than that. 

I would take a look at what the days schedule looks like and how late you are going to be back. I would choose things that can be done pretty quick if it’s late, or reheated/seared in short order.

thetrim said:

Green Lightning shrimp.  

Crockpot Meatballs - Large package of frozen meatballs, 32 oz. jar of grape jelly, 32 oz. of your favorite BBQ sauce ( I use Sweet Baby Ray original).  Put it all in the crockpot, set on low, and go to church. Or, if you want to use your egg, put it all together in a cast iron DO, add a couple of chunks of whatever wood and leave the top off.  350 for about 45-60 min ought to do it( taste test).  Don't forget the toothpicks!

Pig shots. Labor intensive but easy to prep today and cook tomorrow.

We had grilled local shrimp tonight and they were great and super fast- you could prep them before Church and they will cook in 5 minutes (I would do them about 400 degrees with a plate setter legs up).  You could also do portobello mushrooms, sliced vadalia onion, and grape tomatoes pretty much the same way.  Also- grab some mini moon pies- banana is the best for this- and place them on aluminum foil on the same grill (you could also do them at 350) for about 5 minutes- they come off melty and gooey- the best fast dessert on the egg!  If you are home during the day tomorrow, you could smoke some beef short ribs about 225 for maybe 4 hours- then put them in a serving dish and wrap it with foil.  They will be juicy and delicious after Church.  Enjoy the journey!

I love the bologna idea above. We will be doing a smoked salmon plus a bunch of other things, including this from Ina Garten.  Ham and cheese in puff pastery - it is freaking awesom.  Not sure if I would do it on the egg though. I’m guesing the puff pastry might pick up too much smoke.  But then again, if you are cooking with Rockwood and let the smoke settle, it might just add that slight bit of tasty smoke. 

https://youtu.be/p0INMstF0IY