Jalapenos: The late night pick me up

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos STUFFED with Cream Cheese

(or Jalapenos………On a Stick!)

         One of the gangs favorite items are our fire roasted Jalapenos on a stick. This tasty treat warms the insides on chilly nights and gives you a warm fuzzy feeling. The best part is if you have a few left over, their great with breakfast the next morning.

         Before I get into the dos, don’ts, and the whys and hows of these delectable snacks, I would like to dedicate this post and all future posts to the guys. To protect the guilty, I will only use first names (you know who you are). Brett, Tim, Mark, Brad and Jason. You’re not just friends, you’re brothers.

   Now, first, find the biggest firmest jalapenos at your local market. You will also need cream cheese and the bacon of your choice. For our camping adventures, we use real, honest to goodness pork bacon and Philly Cream Cheese. If you would like a healthier version, might I suggest, your favorite Turkey bacon and a light cream cheese. At home I actually use the Jennie O brand of Turkey Bacon and I find that it doesn’t shrink as bad and gets fairly crisp on the grill. Two more items you may need to pick up at the market are tooth picks and some sort of glove. Un-powdered rubber gloves or food service gloves are what you should look for.

   You will need a hard flat surface to prepare you peppers and a “waste” bowl or bag for your scraps. Make sure before you handle the jalapenos that you have gloves on. Many a time I’ve found out all too late that someone didn’t pack the gloves. Trust me when I say, you CANNOT wash your hands enough if you forget. Burning eyes, nose, lips, face and even more personal areas are a distinct probabilty if you do not have gloves.

  One you are gloved up, wash your peppers in cold water. Once you have them washed, it’s time for the fun to begin. Using the hard flat surface, cut the tops off of your peppers. Please be careful not to cut your fingers in the process. Once you have removed the stem portion of the peppers, cut them into equal halves down the length of the pepper.

   I suggest you cut one pepper at a time unless you like jig saw puzzles. Once you have the pepper cut in have, remove ALL of the seeds on the inside. If you leave one or two seeds in, they will be extremely spicy once cooked and chances are you wont like yourself in the morning. Once you have the seeds removed, place the two halves back together and place a toothpick through the halves to hold them together. This is extremely helpful if you have had a bit too much celebrating, Although for us sober folks, it is hilarious watching an inebriated individual try to match 40 pieces of stuffed cream cheese with it’s mate ( Watched it many times since I quit drinking in 2003. It NEVER gets old!).

    Now that you have your peppers cut and paired up, prepare your bacon. Cut your bacon into smaller strips. Each strip should be long enough to wrap around the middle of your peppers at least one and a half times. Once this process is done, it’s time to get to stuffing.

   Take a paired pepper, remove the toothpick. Spread your softened cream cheese on the inside of the pepper halves. Carefully mate the two pieces together again. Take one cut strip of bacon and wrap it around the center of your pepper. Insert the toothpick through the bacon and pepper until you have an equal length of toothpick sticking out of both sides. Your toothpick should be placed so you have both ends of the bacon secured down. Place the Jalapeno on a stick on a plate or in a container until ready to cook.

   Since the process is a little time consuming, you may want to prepare this tasty treat well before you are ready to cook them. I would suggest placing them someplace cold such as a cooler until you are ready to cook them since your bacon is raw.

   We use a tripod stand with a chain supported grill to cook over our campfire. At home, on the grill I use the upper level of the grill. You’ll want your fire to have a good bed of coals, producing great heat. A five foot flame is NOT recommended. Placing the grill at the right height is a matter of guess work. You don’t want the peppers to cook too fast and the bacon to be raw. I usually place the grill 2-3 feet above the flame or coals. It takes a bit of time to cook but slow cooked is the best cooked. Your bacon should be crisp and your peppers darkened. A secret to get this is to turn them often. That can be difficult to do but it takes practice.

   After your peppers are done (and this could take a couple hours) make sure you leave them sit a few minutes before you try to eat them. That cream cheese gets to be like molten lava and will blister the roof of your mouth if your not careful.

  The end product is a wood smoked flavor throughout the pepper and cream cheese. The pepper itself isn’t spicy hot  (unless you miss some seeds), but a warming tasty flavor that is distinct to the jalapeno. The bacon just gives it that all American goodness.

   It’s awesome to watch the fat melt off of the bacon over an open fire at night. The droplets glisten in the firelight as they fall. There is a subtle sizzle at hits the fire and it keeps the flame fueled for the cooking process. There are times when the conversation fades while the jalapenos cook and everyone gets wrapped up just in the moment. No need for words. We let our peppers and the fire say it all.

Enjoy!!

Ron