Atomic Buffalo Bites Recipes

Steps:

• To start the construction of the atomic buffalo turds, you'll first want to wash and trim the jalapeno peppers. I highly recommend wearing plastic food prep gloves during the trimming portion to keep the jalapeno juices from soaking into your skin, so proceed with caution if you choose not to heed my advice. Trimming these guys is a relatively simple task. Simply chop the stem off and slice the pepper lengthwise to expose the seeds and vein. Using a spoon, scrape out the white vein and rinse under water to wash away the seeds. The cream cheese will ultimately counteract the burn from the peppers, so leave a good amount of the inner membrane in tact if you want to feel the heat. In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, paprika and cayenne pepper. Using a butter knife, or a pastry bag, fill each jalapeno half with a generous portion of the cream cheese mixture. Top each one of the jalapeno "boats" with a little smokey. Wrap each of the smokey topped jalapenos with a half slice of bacon, making sure that the seam is directly on top of the little smokey. Secure the wrap by inserting a toothpick straight down through the overlapping edges of the bacon all the way through the little smokey. Stop just short of going through the pepper though, that way the cream cheese doesn't leak out through the hole. Since bacon already contains a good amount of sodium, you'll want to season the buffalo turds with a sugar based rub. Cowtown Rubs are among the staples in my spice rack, so I went with their Sweet Spot Rub this time around. If you're the do-it-yourself type, a nice blend of brown sugar and cayenne pepper works great on these bad boys as well. Cooking the buffalo turds is a matter of getting the bacon done to your liking. My preference is smoke at 250 degrees for about an hour and a half. At this point the bacon isn't overly crispy, but it's definitely cooked enough to be bite through. If you prefer a crispier bacon, then I'd suggest kicking the temperature up to 300 degrees for about an hour. You'll want to keep a close eye on the peppers though. If they overcook, then they'll loose their stability and your turds will spill out all over your smoker. Once your buffalo turds are cooked to your liking, remove them from the grill to cool down a bit before serving. At this point I would typically top them with a generous helping of Blues Hog Barbecue Sauce cut with a little cran-apple juice, but this time around I happened to have a bottle of hot raspberry sauce from the folks over at Traverse Bay Farms. I used this sauce a few weeks ago on some pulled pork sandwiches and was pleasantly surprised as to how well the raspberry flavor melded with the smoked pork, but this blew the sandwich out of the water. The flavor of the smokey jalapeno matches perfectly with the sweet fruity sauce, and of course it's heat is in good company with the medley of peppers tasted in each bite. A spoonful of sauce on each turd and you can guarantee these tasty treats will disappear in no time flat!

Steps:

• 1. half jalapeños and discard seeds and ribs
• 2. insert mini smoked sausage in one of the halves
• 3. spoon in cream cheese in the other half of pepper
• 4. squeeze pepper together, wrap with bacon slice and pin together with a toothpick
• 5. cook on top rack of smoker (preferably) or grill at around 300 degrees for about 45 minutes or until bacon is crispy
• 6. Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat air fryer to 350°. In a large bowl, combine cauliflower and oil; toss to coat. In batches, arrange cauliflower in a single layer in air-fryer basket. Cook until florets are tender and edges are browned, 10-15 minutes, stirring halfway through. In a large bowl, combine buffalo sauce and melted butter. Add cauliflower; toss to coat. Transfer to a serving platter. In a small bowl, combine dip ingredients. Serve with cauliflower and, if desired, celery sticks.

Steps:

• light charcoal in fire box of smoker. soak wood chips in water for at least 30 mins (apple, hickory, and pecan work best). using a fork or your hands, combine cream cheese and pork bits in a large bowl. mix very well. cut off stems, slice lengthwise, and remove seeds and membranes from 10 jalapeno peppers, leaving a pepper "canoe." using a spoon, fill each jalapeno half with cream cheese mixture, wrap with slice of bacon, and secure with toothpick. place assembled jalapenos on rack away from heat in smoker. add wood chips to fire, close lid, and smoke for 3-4 hours, replenishing chips as necessary. bacon should be crisped and cooked through. serve on platter, and feel your arteries clog with each bite.

Steps:

• Some like to split the peppers lengthwise then deseed, but I like to cut off the tops and remove what I can instead.
• Take the cream cheese and whatever meat ( or cheese) you like and mix them together. Put into a ziploc bag and snip the tip off so you can pipe the mixture into the peppers.
• Wrap a piece of bacon around the pepper then secure with a toothpick.
• For the truly brave ( or stupid) add a slice of habenero or serrano in the pepper also.
• Smoke or grill just until the bacon is done.