Jalapeno appetizers

[swheeler]

This is one of my favorite appetizers, about two is enough for most people, goes well with you favorite beverage.

8 of the biggest Jalapenos you can find(serves 4)
8 oz box of creme cheese
a pound of thick sliced bacon

Cut the caps off the peppers, de-seed/core them and rinse in cold water the shake dry. Next slice the creme cheese into an appropiate size to fill the jalapeno, stuff it in with your thumb and fill to the top. Wrap in thick cut bacon held in place by a tooth pick. Place in an 400 deg oven, middle rack, until bacon crisps usually 25-30 minutes. Remove from the baking pan and pat bacon grease off the bottom. Time to eat

[marlin39a]

Looks darn good, but a lb. of bacon on 8 of those jalapeños would put me in cardiac arrest!

[swheeler]

Looks darn good, but a lb. of bacon on 8 of those jalapeños would put me in cardiac arrest!

You have to eat them while using a blood thinner, Jim Beam is one off my favorites!

[tai95]

Looks good.

I make something very similar and smoke them. Couldn't give the exact measurements as I'm a pinch of this and shake of that kind of cook. I mix shredded cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, and a little cumin in with the cream cheese. I split the jalapeno in half and fill it with the cheese mixture. Then push a little smokey sausage into the cheese and wrap all that with bacon then smoke.

When I make them at camp I do a 5lb bag of jalapenos and once they come off the smoker they are gone in about 5 minutes.

[Winger Ed.]

I can live off them if they're done on a grill.

The best jalapenos will be found in a grocery store that caters to a Hispanic customer base.
The darker they are, the hotter they will be.
The light green ones are a little cooler, and more crisp.

Wear gloves. If ya touch the innards of one, then rub your eyes within a few days----
you'll think you've been hit with industrial strength mace.

[jdfoxinc]

An air fryer works really well and fast. Have to turn over half way.

[swheeler]

I was going to grill but the single digit temp and wind steered me inside.

[swheeler]

Looks good.

I make something very similar and smoke them. Couldn't give the exact measurements as I'm a pinch of this and shake of that kind of cook. I mix shredded cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, paprika, and a little cumin in with the cream cheese. I split the jalapeno in half and fill it with the cheese mixture. Then push a little smokey sausage into the cheese and wrap all that with bacon then smoke.

When I make them at camp I do a 5lb bag of jalapenos and once they come off the smoker they are gone in about 5 minutes.

Thanks tai95, smokey sausage sounds like it would be a good addition, may try that.

[dale2242]

I love jalapeno poppers.
I make them 2 ways. Both cooked in the Pit Boss.
Filling is 8 oz cream cheese, 1 cup shredded cheddar, 2 tablespoons of your favorite rub. I like using a spicy rub.
1. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds and pulp.
Fill with filling and top with crumbled bacon.
2. Cut stems off, remove seeds and pulp, fill half way with filling, shove in a Lil Smokie, fill the rest of the way.

[tai95]

Thanks tai95, smokey sausage sounds like it would be a good addition, may try that.

Your mouth will love you, but your waist will hate you.

[Jniedbalski]

I make my peppers with cream cheese mixed equal parts of refried beans and breakfast sausage. I cut the peppers in half then stuff. I put Monterrey jack cheese on top then a slice of bacon and bake. For some reason the Monterrey jack cheese is the best. I tried other types. I also pre cook the bacon if it’s thick a little before I put on top of the peppers to bake .I usally use the thin bacon for this and don’t pre cook it. This is a south Texas recipe

[pertnear]

We make a big batch & freeze them & then pop a few in the oven whenever we need an appetizer or snack. I was on an antelope hunt in NM & they made them as an appetizer around the keg for the after the hunt get-together. They stuffed some of them with peanut butter. To tell the truth, they weren't too bad!

[farmerjim]

I can live off them if they're done on a grill.

The best jalapenos will be found in a grocery store that caters to a Hispanic customer base.
The darker they are, the hotter they will be.
The light green ones are a little cooler, and more crisp.

Wear gloves. If ya touch the innards of one, then rub your eyes within a few days----
you'll think you've been hit with industrial strength mace.

There is something else much worse that you can touch with your hands even after 3 thorough washings with soap and water. Don't ask how I know.

My wife makes a similar dish. the cored jalapeno is cut in half lengthwise then stuffed with cream cheese mixed with cooked crumbled breakfast sausage then wrapped with bacon. Cooked in the oven on a grate with a drip pan under it.

[gkainz]

I love these from my smoker first, grilled as a second choice. Have filled with many different kind of sausages, shrimp or crab bits, ham, let your imagination go wild.

[Old School Big Bore]

When the plandemic started, two hand-washing jokes sprung up: wash like you just shook hands with a Democrat; and wash like you just made a Texas Independence Day barbecue worth of poppers and need to change your contacts.
Down here (So-Tx) the grocery store gadget aisles all have perforated racks for holding the chiles upright so your cheese can't run out. Mostly they are shaped like the outline of Texas but those don't fit in most ovens nor most pits. I was able to find a square-ish one with 20 holes, and it makes a worthwhile batch, stores easily and fits into my pit, smoker and oven. If you want to keep the chile in one piece instead of halving them, the best gutting tool is the cheap poke & twist type apple corer. just don't go out the bottom tip while you're reaming.
I have to be careful to select the mildest Jalapenos available due to SWMBO, being from Joe-jah, thus raised without Tex-Mex aspects to her diet (Taco Hell is "Mexican Food"), has no tolerance for "aggressive" peppers. While there are "tame" cultivars of the Jalapeno (I've raised some that were as sweet as Bells or Shi****os, and some that would peel paint; just picking them barehanded would blister your fingers), if you're getting them from the grocery store they'll be generic and you'll need to look at them critically. The key to selecting a mild Jalapeno is this - the infiltration of capsicum from the seeds works through the seed bed membrane, thence into the flesh, which is time-dependent, so the older the pepper gets, the more heat makes it into the green part. When you core one, look at the inner ribs that support the seeds - in a young pepper they'll be light green, as the pepper matures they turn white and then get yellow streaks which get progressively redder. That's capsicum. When you're gutting them, that seed bed needs to come out. An indicator of age is the little white cracks that become visible on the exterior; the more cracks, the hotter that sucker is gonna be. I haven't found dark green vs light green to be a factor, but firm & glossy is good and flabby & dull is not. When in doubt, give it the sniff test - the hot ones will tell your nose, and may start your eyes to water.
I've stuffed a lot of different meats & cheeses into Jalapenos, but my go-to lately has been pre-cooked crumbled pan sausage, hamburger, or both, or whatever sort of chopped or forced meat (it ain't gonna cook inside that pepper), mixed with shredded cheddar or jack and softened cream cheese plus whatever herbs/spices, installed via a frosting tip stuck through one corner of a zip-top bag. Beats the tar outta trying to push a stick of cheese in there with your fingers. If I want to plug the top, I'll stick a chunk of cooked link sausage in it or wrap the bacon around the top. I used to use thick bacon for making these, but Alton Brown's bacon-wrapping episode showed me the error of my ways and now I buy the thin stuff for that task. I recommend his Good Eats series.
Smoked, baked or grilled, they're one of the first items to disappear.
Ed <><

[swheeler]

I use the thick sliced because we usually buy by the 15 pound case from Daily's. I still cook bacon in a frying pan just like the good old days, fish it out and set slices on folded up paper towels. For the peppers you can pour 99% of the bacon grease right out the corner of the pan, lift them out and set on paper towel before moving to a serving tray. It's all the way up to -2 deg right now at noon thirty, you need some fat to survive here! You need blood thinner too, I had plenty yesterday while watching the Stupid Bowl!

[fiberoptik]

I can live off them if they're done on a grill.

The best jalapenos will be found in a grocery store that caters to a Hispanic customer base.
The darker they are, the hotter they will be.
The light green ones are a little cooler, and more crisp.

Wear gloves. If ya touch the innards of one, then rub your eyes within a few days----
you'll think you've been hit with industrial strength mace.

I gave my Mexican wifey a (bare) hand with the peppers once. Then I hit the bathroom and rubbed my eye . Needless to say that is a day I am sure I will never forget!!! I couldn’t decide whether to grab my face or pecker! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!


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[MaryB]

The rack is the way to go to make these! Some double duty as chicken leg holders. I make chicken lollipops, cut the skin around the small end of the leg then scrape the meat down to the other end. Using pliers you can pull some of the tendons if you want. Marinate and rub of choice, smoke until almost done then drop into a deep fryer to crisp the skin(this WILL make your oil taste funky smokey for the next use). The meat balls up on the end leaving a clean bone to grab on the other end as a handle. Good walk around outdoor BBQ food.

[Kimber1911]

So I make these a little different, some refer to them as atomic buffalo turds. Peener sliced in half, cored, mix cream cheese and cheddar or whatever grated cheese is around for filling. I put some cheese mixture and a chunk of brisket, pulled pork, or venison on the pepper half, then wrap with bacon, final step is to roll it in a spice rub mixture I use for pulled pork and other smoked meats. I put them in the smoker for 15-20 minutes and finish in the oven or on the grill. I don't think I have ever made them exactly the same twice, but it seems I never make enough!!

[dale2242]

Old School Big Bore, I am definitely going to put your advice to the test about picking Jalapenos.
Having been raised in SW Oregon as a loggers son, Mom never cooked Jalapenos.
So many good ideas here. Where to start?