Huevos De Armadillo

You have heard of armadillo eggs if you are a smoker. They are made by stuffing a jalapeno with a cheese mixture and then wrapped in breakfast sausage. The result is smoked and served.

It is a fine dish but the result is a large egg shape that is almost a meal in itself. I wanted something smaller for an appetizer and wanted to add some different flavours. I decided to only use sections of jalapeno and use chorizo (a spiced sausage common to Mexico and Spain) instead of breakfast sausage. Due to the Mexican chorizo, I have renamed my dish Huevos de Armadillo which is armadillo eggs in Spanish.

You can buy fresh chorizo or cured chorizo. You want fresh. I make my own and you can get the recipe here:

Chorizo

I took some jalapenos and cut them into sections about 3/8 inch thick. I took the membranes and seeds out of the rings. I mixed cream cheese and shredded sharp cheddar and stuffed it into the rings.

I formed a 3/8 inch thick patty out of some of the chorizo. Pushed a stuffed jalapeno ring lightly into it. Be careful not to push it in too far. You want to have 1/4 inch of sausage below it.

I pulled the sausage up around the edges of the jalapeno and then took some more sausage and covered the jalapeno. Roll it into a ball.

I put the stuffed meatballs onto a tray sprayed with baking spray and put it in the freezer for two hours. Then I put them in a plastic bag to store.

I find freezing the balls first gives the cheese a better texture when cooked. You can also keep them for future use. Just pull them out when company comes over.

You can cook the Huevos in a 350 oven for 30 minutes and then brush them with barbecue sauce and cook for 8 minutes more but you won’t have the smoke flavour.

I cooked in a more traditional way. I preheated my smoker to 230 F. I put the frozen Huevos in the smoker and smoked for about an hour to get the internal temperature around 155 F. I brushed them with barbecue sauce. I used Rufus Teague Honey Sweet as I thought the strong honey flavour would blend will with the chorizo seasoning but you can use your favourite barbecue sauce. I smoked for 20 minutes more to set the sauce.

I let them sit for 5 minutes before serving with some barbecue sauce in a bowl for a condiment.

The Verdict

These were delicious and fun. They were small enough to be an appetizer and the sweet barbecue sauce was a great foil to the spicy sausage. The fact you can have them pre-made in the freezer is just a bonus.

However, while I really liked these, I don’t like them more than ABT’s and they are easier to make.

So, I will do these again but will lean more towards ABT’s.

The Old Fat Guy

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Huevos De Armadillo

Yield: 20 appetizers

Ingredients

• 5 jalapeno peppers
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) cream cheese
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 kg (2 pounds) fresh chorizo
• barbecue sauce

Instructions

1. Cut the jalapenos into 3/8 inch thick rings.
2. Remove the seeds and membranes.
3. Mix the cheeses together and stuff into the jalapeno rings.
4. Make a 3/8 inch thick patty of some of the chorizo.
5. Push a jalapeno ring into the sausage leaving 1/4 inch of sausage under it.
6. Pull the sausage up around the ring.
7. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
8. Add more sausage to top and roll into a ball.
9. Put the balls in the freezer for 2 hours on a tray sprayed with baking spray.
10. Put the balls in a plastic bag and keep frozen until ready to cook.
11. Preheat a smoker to 230 F. Smoke the frozen balls to an internal temperature of about 155 F (about 60 minutes).
12. Brush with barbecue sauce and smoke for 20 minutes more.
13. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve with barbecue sauce in a bowl as a condiment.

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