The Perfect Man-Treat for Superbowl Sunday: Atomic Buffalo Turds
Friday, January 30, 2009
Atomic Buffalo Turds
You heard me right. That’s what they actually call these bacon-wrapped goodies. Atomic Buffalo Turds. Amazing, huh?
I promise you, they are delicious.
Felix Friend’s foodie roommate Tim introduced me to the glorious smoky, crispy, cream cheesy goodness of the Atomic Buffalo Turd at their New Year’s Eve party in NY. It’s an instant classic.
Tim roasted his jalapenos and allowed them to cool a bit prior to stuffing them with a sausage cream cheese filling. The pre-roast ensures that the pepper will be fully cooked and gives a nice mellow flavor to it.
He got his smokiness from the smoker he has installed outside on the patio of their ridiculous LES apartment. I know, so jealous on so many levels.
The view from Felix and Tim’s patio (which is pretty much the size of most apartments)
If you’re like me though, and have to make do without the luxury of a personal smoker, you could probably do well with a sprinkling of smoked salt.
Be sure to use some quality Bacon on these babies. You’ll taste the difference. My go-to is Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked Bacon. Mmmmm baaaconnnn.
There are lots of different variations on this recipe. A few worth browsing through are featured on White Trash BBQ and Jason’s BBQ Adventures.
There are no hard and fast rules to making atomic turds. Except to just make lots of them.
Atomic Buffalo Turds
The name alone makes these worth making. These sausage-cream-cheese-stuffed bacon-wrapped jalapenos are the perfect man-treat for game day. If you want to up the atomic nature of them, just keep more of the seeds intact (or add cayenne to the filling).
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 20 turds
Ingredients
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 450 F.
- Prep the jalapenos by cutting off the stems and splitting them in half lengthwise. Remove the membrane and seeds inside. (Wear gloves if you have them to avoid contact with the oils from the membrane and seeds.)
- Roast off the jalapenos in the oven (about 20 minutes) or wrap in foil and toss on a hot grill until they are softened. Allow to cool. This pre-roast ensures that the peppers will be fully cooked; it also gives them a nice mellow flavor.
- While the peppers roast, brown the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the excess oil and combine the sausage with the cream cheese.
- Take two jalapeno halves, stuff them with this sausage-cream cheese filling, and then sandwich them together. Wrap in bacon and secure with toothpicks.
- If you have a smoker, you can cook them in the smoker at 225-250 F for about 30-35 minutes. Otherwise, finish off your buffalo turds in the oven (450 F) for 10-15 minutes, turning them halfway through so that the bacon browns evenly. If using the oven method, you can impart some smokiness by sprinkling a little smoked sea salt on top (or adding a few drops of liquid smoke to the filling mixture).
Print Recipe
Welcome to Lick My Spoon, a place for all things delicious. 
Love the name! My guys will dive into any that is wrapped in bacon. These turds look delicious. Did I just write that?
Those are perfect Superball treats!
Wow, those look wicked good! Despite the name.
I laughed so hard I almost hit my head on my keyboard when I read this! Funny enough, a friend of my bfriend makes something really similar to this where we skewers the wrapped peppers, slathers them in a spicy BBQ sauce, and grills them to finish. Thanks for sharing your turns with us!!! :0
Yay turds! Especially the ones with cream cheese. Oh us foodies. We’ll eat anything!
I’d pick this bacon wrapped turd over that bacon explosion that’s all the rage. I love stuffed jalapenos and now wrapped in bacon! Taking something fabulous and making it out of this world. Superbowl is all about the food.
hubby is drooling on the keyboard.
What an awesome name for them. Too bad I don’t eat bacon…I have a good vegetarian sausage substitute, but nothing that works for me as bacon. There’s a reason most vegetarians who cheat do it with bacon.
Wow, I have never heard these called that and love the idea…I love my spicy, and what doesn’t sound good with bacon wrapped around them!
Those look so good!
I WANT TO STUFF MY FACE WITH TURDS
So where, exactly, did the name come from? I must know. Really, I must.
The BBQ Shack in Paola, KS. Â Seriously good ‘queue. Â And amazingly good ABTs!
Thanks for the reco, Bobbo
I’ll have to remember that
Love the name. They look good.
Jen: haha oh, yes…i believe you did
…yeah…i was actually a little hesitant printing the word “turd” on my site, but in the end, honest reporting took priority.
how lovely is this. a turd sharing moment.
Natasha: i know, i woke up and it was like a lightbulb went off! What football watching guy wouldn’t love a spicy, meaty, cheesy, bacon-wrapped bite?
Bob: haha thanks
Rachel ‘Tha Pizza Cutta’: haha that is awesome. hope you didn’t hurt yourself
The Duo Dishes: haha i know…it’s a gift really.
gastroanthropologist: yayyy bacon!
mama chicken: ha, tell him to wipe his chin and find the nearest slab of bacon
The Other Tiger: try turkey bacon! i actually kind of like Oscar Meyer’s version. but you’re right…there is nothing like the real thing.
Chef E: my sentiments exactly!
Kevin: thanks! i’m lucky i got a shot in before they were devoured haha
DK: hahah eww….
Michael: ok, so when i asked tim about the origins of the name, he told me that apparently “atomic buffalo turds” are “really well known in certain parts of the country.” doesn’t that just make you think you’re living in the wrong part of the country?
The Food Hunter: hehe, i wish i could take credit for the name
Good to see the turds made their way to the east coast! Baking these bad-boys in the oven is also an option. An additional source of smoke flavor (should you find yourself with the option of an actual smoker) is the McCormicks SmokeHouse pepper.
MAKE SURE YOU WEAR LATEX OR VINYL GLOVES WHEN PREPARING THESE!
These look YUMMY
I put the Mexican 4 Cheese in place of the cream cheese. I mix it together with the sausage once it is done. When I had to redo my computer I lost another recipe and found this one. Mmmmmm this is good. Years ago I was introduced to simply stuffed jalapenos and there were called Armadillo eggs. I like this name too. lol
Glad you found this, Mike
Enjoy!
I made them again, first was a test, and used thinner bacon this time. I turned out better being it, bacon, came out cooked more. But I have a question. The grease produced a lot of smoke and with the cheaper bacon set off my alarm. It had smoke last time too but not as much. These are too good to let this stop me from making them. Am I missing something or am I doing something wrong?
Hmmm…not sure…except it could be that your oven is dirty? Sometimes if there’s grease or oil on the oven walls, it’ll cause it to smoke more. Otherwise, just open the windows and turn on a fan and enjoy your atomic buffalo turds
No, unless it’s the grease from this bacon splattering. I also bake cookies and have done simply stuffed peppers. I just baked a recipe in it about a week ago and no smoke. That grease on the bottom of the cookie sheet is just sizzling and puts out that smoke.
hmmm
[...] Atomic Buffalo Turds. Yes, that is what they’re really called. A reason in and of itself to make them if you ask me. I mean, if you can’t serve Atomic Buffalo Turds on Super Bowl Sunday, when can you serve them? [...]