Bacon Explosion New Mexicaine

Time for some more experimenting...

The weave, with a "rub" of cumin, chili powder, and onion powder:






Topped with New Mexican green chile and mozzarella - yeah monterey jack probably woulda been more traditional, but I had a bunch of this lying around...






Added a couple eggs; in Santa Fe, it's not uncommon to request e.g. a green chile enchilada with an egg on top. A little fresh-ground pink peppercorn.






Finally, a little chopped crispy bacon on top:






Rolled up and ready to smoke @ 225, using GMG brand pellets (which is all I've got until my next order from BPS arrives ) :




I gotta learn to put less stuff on here... my problem is that I want too many things and then it gets hard to roll up and the weave is bursting at the seams... oh well, it seems to be holding together, but I doubt I'll get the nice spiral pattern in the cut finished roll. But I'm a scientist and engineer, presentational details are not my purview. The idea here is to combine flavors that are reminiscent of, say, a New Mexican green chile stew. Not necessarily spicy hot (though it certainly can be depending on where you get it, like Tia Sophia's in Santa Fe that has a big sign saying "not responsible for food too hot to eat!" ), and I wanted a mild white cheese to add texture and mix with the chile. Minimal seasoning otherwise, so it doesn't overwhelm the green chile flavor.

It's cooking now, will let you know how it comes out in 2.5-3 hours!

FYI I grew up in Los Alamos, NM, and really miss the southwest and green chili dishes in particular! I wish I had some fresh whole green chiles to put in this, but it's not that season yet... plus shipping of those things to MD is godawful expensive, I've looked.

I like where this is headed. Looks tasty.

Art

Thanks!

Oops, I forgot to mention, there's a layer of sage-flavored sausage underneath that cheese...

WOW, nice!! Those Hatch chilis?

They're from Hatch valley in NM, but they're Trader Joe's brand... They're pretty good though.

I tasted a bit of the cheese that's dribbling out a the side (yeah this thing's too full), and it's exactly what I'd hoped for, a soft cheese with an infusion of green chile flavor. Crossing my fingers!

Oh boy, that's my kind of fattie!

Excellent!!! Can't wait to see that baby on the plate!

... and done!Pulled @ internal temp of 165, and put in a serving dish that was made in New Mexico:






A slice:






And paired with a nice Zinfandel:





And the taste... this is one of the best things I've ever cooked. It's a whole different level from my previous bacon explosion. The cheese added a softness to the texture of the inside, and I think helped to soak up and spread the green chile flavor, which is kinda subtle. The outside with the seasoning had more of a standard pot chili flavor, which complemented well with the more delicate inside. The whole thing just worked. This is definitely something I'll be making again.

The only thing I could add to it is a little more green chile flavor. Either a stronger, fresher chile, or perhaps take some whole (not diced) chiles and spread them in a layer between the outside bacon weave and the sausage. Kind of like a giant chile relleno (one of my favorite dishes).

Nice Pauly!

Nice job bro!

Thanks, all!

I love this forum, reading the various gallery threads, and the current competition thread, I'm so impressed with the talent and variety of folks here! Lots of good ideas for things to try in the future.

BTW Chili Head, I went to grad school (chemistry) @ U.I.U.C. - not too far from you?

Good looking food and art !

Pauly that's only 10 minutes from my location.

That is some good looking fattie. I really am very impressed with the weave you got on the bacon. It looks like it would be tough to keep it tight enough to keep all those tasty fillings in.

Yeah, you can see that some of the cheese seeped out during the cook, but I used quite a bit and there was plenty left on the inside still. Glad I had the frogmat for this one, too, to hold it steady on the grill.

Looks delicious!!

That is one of the best fatties I have ever seen on this site. Great cook!

Thanks! I'd never heard the term 'fattie' until I started reading posts here... guess it's nothing new, but still it's fun to play with and has lots of potential for variation. I'm thinking of maybe doing a pizza version with italian sausage and mozarella + tomato sauce on the inside.

These things work well while I learn how to cook "real" meat on these grills.

TentHunter did an Italian Fattie a while back. Here is the link:

http://www.pelletsmoking.com/pelletsmoking-com-gallery-10/italian-fattie-398/

Something to give you ideas!