Atomic Deer Turds

“Atomic deer turds” were named by food writer Robb Walsh in a November 19, 2008 post on the Houston (TX) Press food blog (see below). The “turd” name follows several others, such as “atomic buffalo turds” (bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeños), “Cowtown wolf turds” (another older name for “ABTs”), and “dragon turds” (bacon-wrapped stuffed habaneros).
 
Atomic deer turds are cheese-stuffed jalapeños wrapped within venison sausage. Other, older names for similar products include “jalapeño cheese deer sausage” and “venison sausage balls.”
 
     
Stanton’s (Alvin, TX)
Wild Deer Jalapeno Cheese Summer Sausage
   
Petit Jean Meats (Morrilton, AR)
Jalapeno Cheese Deer Sausage
Price:$40.00
Three, one-pound sticks of our new Deer Sausage with Jalapenos and cheese cooked right in.
   
Woods Smoked Meats, Inc. (Bowling Green, MO)
Deer Cheese & Jalapeño Hot Stix $ 3.49 lb
 
21 December 1995, Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, “Cold weather brings deer back into focus,” sports section, pg. 11:
..become popular—a jalapeno-cheese summer sausage and an andouille cajun sausage…
 
27 November 1998, Arlington (TX) Morning News, pg. 12A, col. 1 ad:
Jalapeño & Cheese Summer Sausage
(Syracuse’s Deer Processing, Flower Mound, Texas—ed.)
     
Google Groups: rec.food.cooking
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: 1999/09/26
Subject: Re: Wild Boar Sausage
 
I have had lots of sausage made from deer, and it has usually been very good. It’s often mixed with pork to increase the fat content. When I lived in the midwest, jalapeno-cheese deer sausage was very popular, and it was delicious. Of course, all of the venison where I lived was corn-fed, and not at all gamey in flavor.
 
22 November 2001, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “The Deer Place packs ‘em in during the hunting season” by Patrick Wascovich:
...and jalapeno-and-cheese smoked sausage.
     
Realtree & Advantage Forums 
Snipe
10-12-2005, 07:45 PM
Re: Deer sausage
3 weeks ago I made Jalapeño & Cheese Venison Summer Sausage lbs. With LEM Seasoning Mix….Buddy it is good too..
 
Houston (TX) Press
Texas Tailgating: Atomic Deer Turds
Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 10:23:08 AM
Tailgaters love to stuff jalapeños with cheese (usually cream cheese) and wrap meat around them. To make “atomic buffalo turds,” you stuff a half a jalapeño with a “cocktail smokie” sausage and cream cheese, wrap it with bacon, secure with a toothpick and grill until the bacon is crisp. Then there’s “armadillo eggs” made by wrapping pork sausage around a cream cheese-stuffed pepper.
 
In Texas, where tailgaters, trail drive riders and hunting camp cooks have lots of venison on hand, variations on this theme use deer meat. I’ve seen butterflied venison backstrap and venison hamburger meat used as the outer layer around a stuffed jalapeño—but the most common meat for this use is venison sausage. These are known by a number of names including “atomic deer turds,” or, in polite company, “venison sausage balls.”
(...)
Atomic Deer Turds
I usually use aged gouda or jack cheese, but you can use whatever you have handy. Cream cheese works too. Substitute pork sausage and you’ve got “armadillo eggs.”
 
2 small jalapeños
2 one-inch chunks of cheese
6-8 ounces venison sausage, cold
Cooking spray
(...)
—Robb Walsh