Armadillo Eggs – A Great BBQ Snack!
By: Various BBQ Pitmasters
Armadillo Eggs are a popular appetizer on the BBQ circuit and make for a fantastic tailgating snack. BBQ is the antithesis of the current fast food obsession and small but delicious snacks are just the thing while your ribs are sitting in the smoker for six hours.
The measurements are by no means exact, as the recipe calls for the inclusion of jalapeno halves. Jalapenos vary in size and therefore your quantities are going to differ slightly with every batch.
Armadillo Eggs are best when cooked on a smoker, picking up the aroma and taste of the woods used for smoking. If this isn’t possible, try to cook them at a low temperature (roughly 250 degrees).
3 pounds of Main Street Meats sweet sausage, outside of the casing
1 pound cream cheese
4 tbs raspberry jam
6 tbs BBQ rub
½ cup BBQ sauce
Core and deseed jalapenos. Cut jalapeños in half length wise. Put in bowl of water and rinse thoroughly. If you would like to reduce the heat of the jalapenos, drain the water from bowl and soak the jalapenos in Sprite or 7-Up overnight.
Mix jam into room temperature cream cheese. Put mixture into piping bag or into a sturdy plastic bag. If using plastic bag, cut a corner off the bottom to create an impromptu piping bag.
In a large bowl mix rub into sausage.
On a silpat or wax paper create very thin patties of sausage that are roughly 3 inches in diameter. Place a jalapeno on the sausage and pipe cream cheese mixture to fill the pepper. Create another patty of equal size and place over the top. Crimp the sausage so that the pepper is fully encased.
When all eggs are fabricated, cook them until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Remover from smoker/oven/grill and baste with sauce. Return to the smoker/oven/grill until the internal temperature reaches 165.
Let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.
HERE ARE SOME GREAT PHOTOS OF EXAMPLES: