Smoked Bacon Wrapped Feta Cheese with Pickled Banana Peppers

John Thomson is the pit master for Team Eatapedia, a competition BBQ team based in Ottawa Canada.  He was preparing a wide range of bacon dishes for his appearance in BaconFest that was held in Ottawa a few weeks ago.  In the interest of public health, one of Team Eatapedia's offerings was a bacon wrapped cheese curd.  In this evil concoction a cheese curd, not known as low fat by any stretch of the imagination, was wrapped with bacon and then smoked until the cheese was gooey and the bacon was crispy.  My heart skipped a beat just looking at the picture.  It was a sheer genius pairing of porky goodness and creamy dairy.  I wanted to try this creation at home as a smoky treat.  Unfortunately, I have no idea where to find cheese curds in the Pittsburgh area, other than at an A&W where they are battered and deep fried.  So, I did a little research on what cheeses have a high melt point.  After scanning my options, I settled on feta cheese.  Creamy, tangy, and a very high melt point.  Perfect for my little experiment.

First, I purchased a block of feta and measured out my cube width before cutting with a strip of bacon.

I cut off my row, then cut into cubes that would accommodate one strip of bacon.

I placed my feta cube on one end of the bacon, topped with a pickled slice of banana pepper, rolled up, and held it all in place with a toothpick.

I placed these future nuggets of joy on a wire rack, then placed on the middle rack of my smoker.  The smoker temperature was 225 F and I had some hickory wood in my ash pan for some flavor.  Then, I cooked until the bacon was crispy.

One hour:

Two hours:

Done, about two and a half hours.

The cheese was hot and creamy on the inside.  The feta also formed a nice smoky crust on the exposed edges.  The banana pepper added some acid that helped to cut through the creaminess of the cheese and a nice spicy bite as well.  The bacon brought it all together like a nice crispy bow.  This appetizer will be making frequent appearances in the future when our smoker is chugging along on those long cooks.  Thanks for the idea John!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Roasted Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes, and Olives with Feta Cheese for the Smoker

When I go to Germany, this is a go to meal when I am tiring of all that heavy German cuisine.  It is also  a great way to deal with your garden veggies for which you probably have run out of ideas for use and consumption.  In Germany, this is called Shaftkase mit Peperoni and Knoblach (Sheep Cheese with Peppers and Garlic).  I call it delicious!

First, I brought the smoker up to 350 F, no wood in the ash pan for flavoring.  Then, I sliced some onion and jalapeno, then added in some pitted Kalamata and green olives, plus two whole cloves of garlic.  Then, I seeded and rough diced some pickled pepperoncini and mixed everything in a bowl with some sea salt and olive oil.  This mix was placed in a cast iron skillet and put on the smoker for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I added a slab of fresh feta cheese and Roma tomatoes, sliced into quarters.

Then, I put back in the smoker for 30 more minutes and served hot with crusty Italian bread on the side.

The feta does not melt, but it has a slight brown color on top and is soft enough to spread.  The veggies are tender crisp, the olives are lightly roasted, and so are the tomatoes.  I place a little bit of everything on crusty bread and dig in.  Once the good stuff is gone, make sure you have enough bread to sop up all of that garlic and pepper flavored oil.  This is a nice, light summertime meal.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill