Armadillo Eggs


Ingredients
  • 4 lbs Jimmy Dean Regular or Hot sausage
  • 15 -18 Jalapeno peppers
  • 2 white onions
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 1 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese
  • 1 8oz bar of pepper jack cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • yellow food coloring
  • favorite BBQ rub


Finely chop the onions, 3 or 4 jalapenos, and garlic. Oversized vegetables will significantly alter the texture of the finished product. Let the cream cheese soften as needed. Shred the Pepper Jack cheese. Slice the remaining whole jalapeno peppers in half vertically and clear out all of the seeds and pith. Keep the matched pepper halves together.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese with the pepper jack cheese. Mix in enough yellow food coloring to approximate the color of egg yolk. The food coloring will not effect the taste but adds a little something special to the presentation.

Saute the onions and diced peppers in vegetable oil or butter over medium heat. I like the flavor of carmelized vegetables and this will minimize the water content of the vegetables. Add the garlic to the saute about 2 minutes prior to completion. Drain and mix the saute with the cheeses. Thouroughly mix to avoid any concentrated pockets of ingredients.



Spoon some of the newly created armadillo yolk into the sliced peppers. Fill each pepper half and then stick two matched halves together. It's okay if some of the stuffing squeezes out of the sides of the peppers. Refrigerate the stuffed peppers when done.



Use another bowl and mix together the sausage, egg, bread crumbs, and a couple of tablespoons of your favorite BBQ rub. Thoroughly mix these ingredients to avoid any concentrated flavor pockets. The egg will help hold the meat mixture together and the bread crumbs will actually retain moisture. Place this sausage mixture in the refrigerator when done. It's difficult at best to work with warm sausage when doing the stuffing.

Take the stuffed jalapenos out of the fridge along with the sausage mixture. Grab a handfull of the sausage and mold it around one of the stuffed peppers. You want to make sure the sausage completely covers the pepper. The final product should take on the shape of the pepper and thus have an egg shape to it. The easiest way to accomplish this shaping process is to use plastic gloves and shape each egg by hand. Try and get an even layer of sausage around each pepper.



Next, sprinkle some of your favorite BBQ rub on the eggs.

Heat the smoker up to 250F and toss in a couple of chunks of wood for flavor before throwing the eggs on the cooker. Sausage doesn't really benefit from low and slow cooking but make sure and choose a temperature that will cook the center without overcooking the outside (anywhere between 200F-300F will work nicely). Cook until the internal temperature reaches 170F-175F.