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JALAPENO POPPERS (on the Big Green Egg)

Oh how I love my grilled jalapeno poppers!  Hubbie and I found the recipe on the Big Green Egg website and we tweaked the recipe a little over the years to suite our tastes.  Here is the recipe:

15-17 large jalapeno peppers
1 pound of hot ground sausage (such as Jimmy Dean)
2 packages of reduced fat cream cheese
9 slices of a high quality bacon (such as Hormel Black Label)

Break up the sausage into bits into a frying pan and brown sausage until crisp and brown.  Transfer the cooked sausage into a food processor and pulse 3-4 times to give the sausage an even consistency.  Mix sausage in with softened cream cheese until evenly mixed.  Set aside.

Cook bacon slices in the microwave for a few minutes or until they are half cooked.  Cut bacon slices in half.  The reason 

Make a slit into the side of a jalapeno and scrape out the seeds with a spoon while being careful to keep the jalapeno intact.  We found the poppers grill better if you make the opening at the top of where the jalapeno would naturally lay flat.  Stuff the jalapeno with the cream cheese mixture and secure bacon on top with a toothpick that is place cross wise the jalapeno.  We used to wrap an entire piece of bacon around the jalapeno but we found the bacon burned on the bottom when grilled.

Grill jalapenos for 20 minutes or until tender at 300 degrees.  If you have a BGE, cook the poppers indirectly with a plate setter.