Atomic Buffalo Turds - ABTs

ABTs are a crowd favorite even for people that say, "I don't like peppers."  I'm not a big pepper person, either.  But when it comes to these things, I can eat 10, easily!  They're very addicting and are a hit at any party or barbeque.

There are a few different methods to make ABTs.  The best part about it is that you can experiment with different cheeses, spices, and even the type of meat you use inside of the pepper.  I've used cream cheese, smoked cheese, or grated cheese inside of the pepper.  I've also used sliced turkey pepperoni, smokies (small hot dogs), and sliced turkey breast.  Use anything you think you'd like.  There's no right or wrong way to make these.

Here's what you'll need.

Ingredients:

• Jalapeno Peppers
• Cream Cheese (grated cheese or sliced cheese will do)
• Bacon Strips (I used Center Cut bacon)
• Paprika
• Toothpicks (to secure the bacon to the pepper)

Start by slicing the Jalapeno's in half.

Take the seeds and stem out of the peppers using a teaspoon.  Scrape it out nice and easily.  Be sure to not break the pepper.

Mix Cream Cheese in a small bowl and apply a bit of Paprika.  Mix together.  You want the color to be slightly pink.  That's when you know you've added the right amount of paprika.  You can also add sugar, if you'd like. Once this is complete, apply cream cheese to each pepper as shown below.

 

Once you get to this point, you'll have some options.  You can sprinkle in some grated cheese, place pepperoni/turkey/smokie dog (anything else you want) into the pepper.  I usually do pepperoni or smokies.  Here's a shot of some ABTs I did last month with smokies:

 

After the ingredients have been applied to the peppers, you will cut 4-5" strips of bacon and wrap a slice around each pepper. 

Grab a toothpick and run it through the bacon and pepper to secure it during cooking.

Now you're ready to smoke these beauties.  I generally use a mild wood (apple, cherry, or maple) and smoke at 275F for about an hour and a half (or until bacon is crispy).

ABTs are worth the prep time.  Try them as soon as possible!

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Remmy's Spiced-Out Wings

This is one of my favorite wing dishes.  It consists of a few basic ingredients.  But make no mistake, they produce a very bold flavor on wings!

We'll start with what you'll need.  The following is the recipe for almost 90 wings.

Ingredients:

• Chicken wings (about 90)
• 5 tbsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. onion powder
• 2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. chile powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. sage
• 2 oz. fruit juice (cherry, apple, pomegranate, grape, etc.)

Start by cutting wings into individual pieces. 

Mix dry rub ingredients in bowl and mix well.  

Apply dry rub to wings and rub thoroughly.

Place wings in a Ziploc bag and pour fruit juice into bag.  Lock the bag and then proceed to rub the juice all over the wings.  Let these marinade for at least 6 hours.  I usually let them go overnight.  Once you're ready to start cooking, take these puppies right out of the bag and place them onto the smoker.  Smoke the wings for 1.5 hours at 300-325F (350F if you want them really crispy).  My favorite wood to use for wings are apple or cherry woods.  Maple will work, too.  Anything that's mild, as you do not want to over-smoke these with a more pungent wood such as mesquite.

These are fantastic without sauce!

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Jerk Beef Short Ribs

If you've ever heard of the term "Dino Bones," well, here they are.

Dino bones are beef short ribs that are usually upwards of 8" in bone length.  I had the local butcher cut a 4 lb. slab of short ribs for me.  This is what they look like.  Notice the ribs have meat ON TOP of the bones unlike beef back ribs, which have most of the meat in between the bones.

I made a not-so-simple Jerk marinade.  Jerk usually consists of many ingredients.  I almost always make mine the same every time.  Except for these ribs, I substituted orange juice with pineapple juice because there was no OJ to be found in the fridge.  Without further ado, here's the marinade:

                Marinade

• 3 Scotch Bonnet Peppers
• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 cup Orange juice (I used Pineapple instead)
• 1/8th cup All spice
• 1/8th cup Thyme
• 1/8th cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. Black Pepper
• 1 tsp. ground ginger (I prefer fresh, if I have it)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 Large Onion, chopped
• Handful of Scallions, chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic
• Juice of 1 Lime

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend thoroughly.  The ingredients will turn into a nice paste if you've done this correctly.  Here goes the Jerk marinade.

Now we're ready to apply the marinade to the meat and refrigerate overnight.

I let the marinade soak into the meat for roughly 12-16 hours.

When you are ready to smoke the ribs, pull them from the marinade and place them directly onto the smoker.  And here go the ribs after being marinated.  They're ready for smoke.

Making Jerk anything requires patience.  You do not want to cook these at high heat and risk burning the marinade that is on the meat.  It contains sugar and will not taste very well if cooked that way.

Use whatever type of wood you have available.  I generally go with a more mild wood, such as apple or cherry, when smoking anything Jerk.

Allow the ribs to smoke at 215-225F for roughly 3 hours.  After this time period, you may wrap the ribs in foil and allow them to cook for two additional hours in the smoker.  If this is the route you take, be sure to put the ribs back onto the smoker (unfoiled) for about an hour so that they crisp-up.  This is called the "3-2-1" method.  I rarely use foil when smoking, so I smoke the ribs for roughly 6 hours until they are very, very tender.  You will not be disappointed in the finished product, believe me.

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Pulled Beef

As I walked through the supermarket aisles, an idea popped right into my head.  Pulled beef.

I quickly walked over to the open dairy case and found two chuck roasts (each 3 3/4 lbs.) that soon went into my shopping cart.

Here are the two Black Angus chuck roasts.  All of my rubs are homemade and  I love experimenting with new rubs when I BBQ.  Below is the list of ingredients in my rub for the pulled beef.  Keep in mind you may add as much heat as you want before or after these are smoked.  I usually prefer to add the heat into the rub prior to applying it to the beef.

You'll want to apply the rub liberally and plastic-wrap each roast when you're done.  I rub these the night prior to the smoke.
 

                    

                     Rub

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup ground pepper
• 1/4 cup Lawry's seasoned salt
• 1/4 cup granulated garlic
• 1/4 cup onion powder
• 1/8 cup cayenne pepper

 The rub has been applied and now it's time to wrap these babies.

.

All wrapped-up.  

  

Now all that needs to be done is the actual cook.  If you've made brisket before, great.  Because that's exactly how you will cook these.  I love to smoke these over hickory or oak wood.  You'll want to smoke these roasts at 225(F) degrees until the internal temperature reaches 150F.  You will then have two options.  The first will be to allow the roast to cook over the smoke until it reaches 205F.  The other option is to wrap the roast in foil once it hits 150F and allow it to climb to 205F.  The latter method will allow you to capture the juices and apply the juices to the beef once it is pulled.

Once the beef is done, wrap each roast in foil and allow it to rest in a cooler for roughly 2 hours.  This will allow the juices to re-distribute throughout the meat and will not allow the beef to dry-out as quickly as it would if it were pulled as soon as it came off of the smoker.

Pulled beef can be served in a variety of ways.  I prefer to make sammies and apply some BBQ sauce to the meat.  It can be served with rice and/or potatoes as well.

I hope you enjoy this.

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