Here's a quick, easy one to spice up your next cookout.
Ingredients:
- 6 Large Jalapenos, T-Cut, seeded (I'll explain later)
- 1 Small/medium Jalapeno, topped, seeded, minced
- 1 Small Red Onion (finely chopped)
- 8 Slices of Bacon, any variety, chopped. Pork Belly would work too.
- 1 Block of Cream Cheese (8oz)
- 1tsp Salt
- 1tsp Garlic Powder
- A few grinds of Pepper
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| Got these abnormally large jalapenos at the commissary. Pretty sure they were grown under power lines or by a nuclear power plant. But they were perfect for stuffing! |
- Prepare you 6 Large Jalapenos by making a t-cut in the pepper. You can do this by slicing the top of the pepper 3/4 of the way through, almost cutting off the top but not quite. Then slice the face of the pepper from top to tip on one side. The Jalapeno will then tightly flap open and you can remove all ribs and seeds from the inside. *WARNING* I know jalapenos are not that hot, but the oils from jalapenos will stick to your fingers for days and will make themselves known at the worst of times, i.e. using the restroom, picking your nose, rubbing your eyes, and more seriously, when touching your children and preparing their food. Bottom line, it can hurt you and others around you if mishandled, so WEAR GLOVES!!!
- begin to fry your chopped bacon. When about halfway finished (it won't take long) toss in your finely chopped onion, and minced jalapeno. When bacon is finished to your liking, place all pan contents on a paper towel to soak up some of the grease.
- Place cream cheese in bowl. Add salt, pepper, garlic and all ingredients from paper towel (bacon, onion, minced jalapeno). Stir to combine thoroughly.
- Use your fingers to hold t-cut jalapenos open and use a teaspoon or fork to pack the peppers full of your tasty, bacon-packed filling. If it looks a little sloppy, that's okay. No problem.
- Place on a medium heat grill over direct heat until charred black spots appear on the flesh of the pepper. Remove from fire and serve alongside any steak, ribs, or burgers you want!
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| Even if they look a little sloppy, it's okay. The grill will make them look great! |
A concern people always have is "I don't like spicy things." Well you're in luck! If you want it less spicy, just remove the minced jalapeno portion from the stuffing mix and this will be a minimally spicy recipe. If you're worried about it being in a jalapeno, don't worry about that either.
When a jalapeno is grilled and the seeds and ribs are removed, most of the oils are transferred into the cream cheese. I won't get into the chemistry of it all, but the short of it is that milk neutralizes capsaicin (the chemical that makes your mouth burn). So, the cream cheese (dairy) will neutralize almost all of the spiciness from the cooked jalapeno. You are left with the flavor of the fruit (jalapeno) which is rather nice. This recipe takes about 10 minutes for prep and about 5-8 minutes for cook time on the grill.
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| This fire was especially hot, so I made a few bumps in some foil to keep them in place and to protect them from the heat. Worked great! |
