From CakesCottage.com
I made these for Superbowl Eve (that’s a thing!). We were going to a Superbowl gathering and our guests had the food taken care of… so… Superbowl Eve, ya know?
This is another one of those recipes that stopped my son mid-sentence as he stared at the ‘bomb’ that he justput in his mouth and couldn’t believe the flavor explosion that was taking place. Does my heart (and ego) proud.
Eggcessory Needed
Ingredients:
- 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 10 fillets
- 5 jalapenos, de-seeded, sliced in half lengthwise
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 20 slices bacon
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- Apple Juice Brine
Directions:
I found fillets in my local supermarket, and I can’t image you not being able to find them either, but if you can’t here are directions on how to turn chicken breasts into fillets! Woo-hoo! If using chicken breasts, cut them lengthwise into thin fillets. Each fillet will make one bomb. [insert explosion sound here… because I’m 12]
Pound the chicken fillets between parchment paper until about ¼ inch thin. Again, I was lucky enough to find fillets that were cut to ¼ inch thick, so you may be able to skip this step. You can skip two steps of this recipe. It’s getting easier, and easier all the time!
Put all the fillets, and the apple cider brine, into a large baggie. Zip it close, and let it brine for at least 3 hours. The brining part of this recipe is something I added. The Egg is really, really good at keeping chicken juicy, but why not make sure it’s really, really juicy I say. Besides, I like apple juice.
Wash jalapenos, cut the stem off, slice lengthwise, remove the seeds, and clean out center. I can’t stress this enough, don’t touch your eyes (or go anywhere near your eyes) while cutting jalapenos. It hurts more than having your arm cut off. Ok, maybe it doesn’t hurt that much, but it does hurt like a beast.
Rinse the jalapenos a second time. Most of the heat (or eye hurting) comes from the seeds. Rinsing the jalapenos again will make sure that there is no residual heat left on the inside of the jalapeno. The pepper is hot enough without it.
Now, I understand heat isn’t for everyone. If you have a few “heat adverse” members of your family (gasp! For shame!) you can substitute the jalapenos with Anaheim peppers. They taste pretty close to what a jalapeno tastes like, but without the heat. No you won’t need to fly all the way to Disneyland to get these peppers (because Disneyland is in Anaheim, CA… get it?!) you can find these at your local supermarket.
In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese (mmmmm, cream cheese) and chedder cheese (mmmm, cheddar cheese) until well blended.
Fill each jalapeno half with about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture. Don’t be stingy! Heap it on!
Place filled jalapeno half, cheese side down on chicken fillets and roll chicken around jalapeno. The chicken may not stay tight around the jalapeno. Don’t sweat it. The bacon will pull it all together.
Wrap 2 pieces of bacon (one at a time) tightly around the rolled chicken. The original recipe doesn’t state which direction to wrap the bacon, but I wrapped it so it would close up the open ends of the chicken. Start at one end, wrap half the fillet, and finish the 2nd half with the other piece of bacon. Also, I used an Applewood bacon, because, you know, I have a whole “apple” theme happening here.
Stick a toothpick through the center to hold it all together. The original recipe says that you don’t need a toothpick, and that you should tuck the bacon end under itself. I tried this, but the bacon kept coming loose and the bomb would fall apart. If you’re able to make this work I drink a shot to you. You’re a better person than me. 😉
Set the Egg to indirect cooking, and preheat grill to 350 degree. Place chicken bombs on the grill to cook for 30 minutes.
With 5 minutes left to go baste the bombs with barbecue sauce. I completely forgot this step (oopsy!) and the flavor was still excellent so I leave it up to you if you want to baste, but I’m going to include the basting next time because I think this will HNL the whole recipe.
Be sure chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
Use the Big Green Egg Dual Probe Thermometer to see when the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 F, otherwise pierce chicken bombs with a fork.
When they are done, remove from the grill, let them rest 5 minutes or so and serve. These bad boys are so dense we were only able to each one a piece (leftovers!). If you go to reheat them at a later date, nuke them in the microwave. It makes them incredibly juicy again. Don’t pop them into the oven unless you really love dried out chicken. 😉
Bacon BBQ Chicken Bombs
Ingredients
- 10 Chicken Fillets, or 5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 5 Jalapenos, de-seeded, sliced in half lengthwise (or Anaheim peppers for less heat)
- 4 ounces of Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
- 20 slices of Bacon
- 1 cup of Barbecue Sauce
- Apple Juice Brine
Instructions
If using chicken breasts, cut them lengthwise into thin fillets, each fillet will make one bomb.
Pound the chicken fillets between parchment paper until about ¼ inch thin.
Put all the fillets, and the apple cider brine, into a large baggie. Zip it close, and let it brine for at least 3 hours.
Wash jalapenos, cut the stem off, slice lengthwise, remove the seeds, and clean out center.
Rinse the jalapenos a second time.
In a mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and chedder cheese until well blended.
Fill each jalapeno half with about 1 Tbs or little more of cheese mixture.
Place filled jalapeno half, cheese side down on chicken fillets and roll chicken around jalapeno.
Wrap 2 pieces of bacon (one at a time) tightly around the rolled chicken, start at one end, wrap half the fillet and finish the 2nd half with the other piece of bacon, and tuck bacon into itself to seal ends closed.
Stick a toothpick through the center to hold it all together.
Set the Egg to indirect cooking, and preheat grill to 350 degree. Place chicken bombs on the grill to cook for 30 minutes.
With 5 minutes left to go baste the bombs with barbecue sauce.
Be sure chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
Use the Big Green Egg Dual Probe Thermometer to see when the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 F, otherwise pierce chicken bombs with a fork.
When they are done, remove from the grill, let them rest 5 minutes or so and serve.
