I'm blaming the camera

One of the things my wife does when she can stand to be apart from me is play bunco with a great group of ladies. Twice a year, once at a summer picnic and once at a Christmas Party, the Men-Folk are allowed to play. 

Usually, our host provides the main course, and other folks bring either sides or deserts.  In the past, I have brought such things as Brigid's Bacon Butterscotch Brownies with Salted Glaze, Brigid's Guinness Brownies, and The Best Brownies in the World, and the Best Brownies EVER, so I have a reputation to live up to.  I didn't feel like desert though, so I decided to wing it with some Smoked Jalapeno Poppers.

Yeah, they don't look like much in the pan, but...they were pretty okay.

Recipe? 

Well, start by splitting the jalapeno's.  Since I am not a huge heat guy, I use a spoon to get out the seeds and most of the ribs.  Then, you stuff them.  For my filling I used two packages of Neufchatel Cheese(it's healthy!)(well, not as unhealthy as cream cheese), and then whipped in one pound of hot pork sausage that I had browned up.  It turned out to be too much filling...I started with 20 jalapenos, and had about 1/3rd of the filling mixture left.  I might or might not have tried eating it all with a spoon, and might or might not have been defeated by too much richness.

Then you take your stuffed half a jalapeno, and in theory, you wrap it with bacon.  That theory only works with thin bacon though.  The thick-cut stuff I had was tougher to wrap, so for most of the poppers, I just draped a blanket of bacon over the top, and tooth-picked it into place.

Place said poppers on the grill for oh...about an hour.  Seems long, but I used indirect heat, with lots of wood chips.  The cheese does a fine job of absorbing smoky goodness.

I was pretty popular...until the next morning.