Armadillo Eggs Down and Dirty

Down and dirty puts a perfect crisp on the bacon

The other day I was watching a show called Deep Fried Masters on Destination America.  It's a cooking competition that puts State Fair Vendors up against each other to see who is the real deep fried master.  I'm not a huge fan of the "deep fry everything" craze, in fact I think it's a little absurd, but that's what was on and just before I changed the channel, a particular dish caught my attention.  For the "food on a stick" category one of the competitors was cooking what he called Deep Fried Armadillo Eggs.  As I watched him assemble these little guys and drop them in the fryer, my first thought was, "Those look stupid good!" which was immediately followed with, "Those would be perfect to do down and dirty."

Soak the skewers in water to keep them from burning

This particular version of Armadillo Eggs consists of three ingredients, a block of pepper jack cheese, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and bacon.  Start by slicing the chicken breast into pieces about an inch think.  Then, pound the chicken out until it is about four inches in diameter and about an eighth of an inch thick.  Season with salt, pepper, and cumin.  Wrap each piece of chicken around a small chunk of cheese, wrap the cheese and chicken with a slice of bacon, and use a bamboo skewer to hold it all together.

My new favorite food on a stick

Light a chimney starter full of hardwood lump charcoal and let it get white hot.  Dump the coals into your down and dirty cooker (see Cooking Down and Dirty) and then place a wire cookie cooling rack directly on the coals.  Blow off the ashes and then place the Armadillo Eggs down on the coals.  Flip the eggs a couple of times so everything cooks evenly.  Take the eggs off the coals when the bacon shell gets nice and crispy.  Let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving.