Texas Twinkies

[jark87]

These are great for any party, but especially good for tailgating.

Ingredients:

Fresh jalapeños, cored

Cream cheese

Chopped brisket, already smoked to your taste

Brown sugar

Thinly-sliced, center cut bacon

 

I didn’t list measurements, as that depends on how many Twinkies you want. I made 24 and used two 8 oz packs of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and a medium bowl of chopped brisket. Sorry - I didn’t weigh the brisket, but use however much you’d like, as you can’t have too much brisket. I also used 3 packages of bacon.

 

Make a T cut in the jalapeño, slicing down from stem area to tip, then about a 1/2” slice across at the stem area, perpendicular to the lengthwise slice, creating a T-shaped cut. This will allow you to core the pepper while leaving the ends on, which will hold the stuffing in during the cook.

 

Core the veins and seeds out of the pepper, noting that the veins are what cause heat, so the more you remove, the milder the pepper. Rinse the seeds out under the faucet.

 

Smoke cored peppers at 250° for 20-30 minutes, just to soften them a little and put some smoke on them.

 

While peppers are smoking, mix cream cheese, brown sugar and brisket in a large mixing bowl.

 

Stuffed smoked peppers with cream cheese mixture and wrap with thinly sliced bacon. The thin bacon works better when cooking low and slow. It usually takes at least 2 slices of bacon per pepper, depending on size. If necessary, use toothpicks to secure the bacon.

 

Smoke at 250° for 90 minutes. Picture is prior to cooking, as I took them to a tailgate party and had a friend finish them off onsite. I didn’t get a chance for pictures of the finished product. Enjoy!