Aryc’s (Bigger Than Texas) Armadillo Fingers (makes 16)

[thomasgvermeulenjrParticipant]

4 2lb. Packages of Hot Italian Sausage (Dino’s)
16 3”-4” jalapeňos
1 package mozzarella or “twists” string cheese sticks (1stick
to 2 peppers cut in half)
2 1 ½ Lb packages of Hickory bacon (thin/regular cut = 2
strips per Armadillofinger)
5 Tubes Wal-Mart Jumbo Butter Flavor Biscuits (2 ½ per
Armadillo Finger)

Start out by cutting cheese sticks in half and setting aside. Next cut stem end off of jalapeňos and then in half lengthwise. At this point you can “tame down” the Fingers by removing seeds and/or the inner membrane of the peppers. Less seeds/membrane = less heat. If you remove it all out the pepper will be more like a green bell pepper. Now place a half of a cheese stick in between two halves of a pepper, cheese more or less sandwiched between two pepper halves.

In the next step it is recommended you wear latex or nitrile gloves because the sausage fats will stick to your skin more than it will stick to itself or around the pepper. First preheat oven to 350°. Open sausage packages and place them all into a bowl. Take approx. ¼ of a package or ½ Lb. of sausage per pepper and wrap entirely around the peppers (with cheese) and place on a nonstick cooking tray. Bake sausage wrapped peppers for 45 – 60 minutes to ensure sausage is cooked thoroughly.

Allow peppers to cool to room temperature or refrigerate overnight, which allows you split up the work. If you refrigerate be sure to heat up or allow Fingers to sit to reach room temperature, which makes it easier to wrap the biscuits around them (not too hot or too cold). Also it ensure you do not have a cold/cool center after the final baking step.

The final preparation step is perhaps the most delicate. First preheat oven to heat specified by biscuit container (see Note below). Each Armadillo Finger takes 2-½ biscuits to cover. Take 1-½ biscuits and combine by flattening out and wrap around the bottom and sides of a Finger. Then flatten out 1 more biscuit and cover top, doing your best to make sure the biscuit is even in thickness, no holes and the edges are folded/squeezed together so the biscuit doesn’t split apart while baking.

NOTE: Because the biscuits aren’t thick and all together like they normally are, the cooking time is usually shorter than the containers directions say. Also, depending on your cooking tray/sheet and your oven, you may need to adjust heat or flip the Fingers about 80% – 90% through baking to obtain even cooking and avoid burning the bottoms.

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