Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies

Really, look at those pictures. How could I not try this??

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies
from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
  • 20 whole fresh jalapenos, 2-3 inches each
  • 2 blocks cream cheese, softened
  • 1 lb bacon, sliced into thirds

Directions:
  1. If you have them, slip on some latex gloves and possibly a face mask for the pepper prep. Cut jalapenos in half length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane. Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with a bacon piece (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle. At this point, you can freeze them, uncooked, in a Ziploc bag for later use.
  2. Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.
  3. Serve immediately, or at room temperature.

Comments & Modifications:
  • Of course, you can make as many or as few as you want. Please don't make all 40 if you're the only one eating them.
  • The toothpick is kind of finicky; I don't bother. If you wrap the bacon so that the ends are underneath the jalapeno it keeps everything in place perfectly.

Verdict: Of course, these are ridiculously good. Do I even need to say it? A word of warning, however: jalapenos vary greatly in hotness. I've eaten plenty that were perfectly mild, and one or two that I thought were going to kill me. To play it safe, now I nibble a tiny bit off the very end to check for fiery burningness, and if it's bad, I give it to Dan to "dispose" of.

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