Cook the Book: BBQ Jalapeño Poppers
"Drummond says she's caught her guests stuffing these little guys into their purses."
Jalapeño poppers have no redeeming nutritional value, no cult following (at least not one I am aware of), and aren't exactly the classiest of foods. But I love them, shamelessly. I have been known to make secret late-night pilgrimages to the Jack in the Box drive-thru solely to obtain these nasty little treats (with extra ranch dressing, of course). I'm even guilty of buying the frozen supermarket version in dire times.
So you can only imagine my joy when I found the first recipe in Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks was for BBQ Jalapeño Poppers. For years I'd been wanting to make them at home and now was my chance! And the best part, this recipe doesn't force you to choose between stuffing the poppers with either cream cheese or cheddar—it calls for both.
Armed with a bag of jalapeños, a pound of bacon, blocks of cheddar and cream cheese, I headed into the kitchen. Throwing caution to the wind, I halved and seeded my peppers without the protective aid of rubber gloves. Sure, my fingers tingled a bit, but I'll chalk it up to nervous excitement. I mixed the cheeses and scallions, stuffed the peppers and lovingly wrapped each one in bacon.
I'm not a big fan of store-bought barbecue sauce and decided to go with the only jam that happened to be in my fridge, Damson plum. Strange choice, I know, but it worked out pretty well.
I placed my swaddled peppers in the oven and let them bake for a little over an hour. The low-and-slow cooking meant that the peppers cooked through without becoming soggy, the cheeses heated evenly without oozing out of their shells, and the bacon was crisp and caramelized with a hint of sweetness from the jam.
I took them out of the oven and against my better judgment, popped a still-steaming and sizzling popper straight into my mouth. Did I burn my mouth? Of course. Was it totally worth it? Yes, there are no words to describe the deliciousness of these homemade jalapeño poppers. I ate an embarrassing amount of them at temperatures ranging from mouth-scorching to hot, warm, room temperature, and even downright cold.
Drummond says she's caught her guests stuffing these little guys into their purses and I can see why. There are few hors d'oeuvres that have the potential to turn regularly honest people into petty thieves.
As always with our Cook the Book feature, we have five (5) copies of The Pioneer Woman Cooks to give away this week. Enter to win here »
BBQ Jalapeño Poppers
- makes 36 poppers -
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond.
Ingredients
18 fresh jalapeños
One 8-ounce package cream cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 green onion, sliced
18 slices thin bacon, cut into halves
Bottled barbecue sauce
Toothpicks
Rubber gloves (or plastic bags) for working with the jalapeños
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 275°F.
2. Begin by cutting the jalapeños in half lengthwise. Try to keep their stems intact. They look prettier that way.
3. With a spoon, scrape out the seeds and light-colored membranes. Remember: The heat comes from the seeds and membranes, so if you can handle the sizzle, leave some of them intact.
4. Now, in a bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and chopped green onion. Mix the ingredients together gently. And don't feel you have to use and electric mixer, I do because I'm lazy and don't like to exert myself. Ever. (Too much scrubbing clothes on the washboard, I suppose.)
5. Next, stuff each hollowed jalapeño half with the cheese mixture.
6. Wrap the bacon slices around each half, covering as much of the surface as you can. Be careful not to stretch the bacon too tightly around the jalapeño, as the bacon will contract as it cooks.
7. Brush the surface of the bacon with your favorite barbecue sauce. Chutney or apricot jelly works well, too!
8. Secure the jalapeños with toothpicks and pop them in the oven for 1 hour, or until the bacon is sizzling.
9. Serve hot or at room temperature, and watch them disappear within seconds. I've seriously caught guests stuffing these into their purses. Sometimes I have to call law enforcement.
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11 Comments:
I've made these without the BBQ sauce based on her previous recipe for these, and they disappear quickly. At my last party, there was a running countdown so people would know how quickly they needed to get them before they disappeared.
maharene at 12:51PM on 10/28/09
These are great with any of your favorite spices or condiments. My fav is the juice of one lime and Adobo seasoning, for a Mexican flair. Since I rarely have bacon, I've also wrapped them in thinly slice ham and proscuitto. I cook them on high heat (400-450) for 25 minutes or so. The heat of the jalapeno is tempered in the oven. I don't use gloves either, and typically end up rubbing an eye, especially since the cleaning process makes me choke and cough. Last time I made them, my fingers burned for 24 hours.
lambowner at 12:59PM on 10/28/09
These are super yummy! Ree was in Tulsa yesterday!
tulawdog76 at 1:21PM on 10/28/09
These are the main reason why i have disposable plastic gloves in my house at all times.
I made them from her site's recipe(no bbq sauce) and it's the first thing I ever took to a picnic that was totally decimated by the end of the night. SO good.
Dani_PA at 2:38PM on 10/28/09
We made these a few weeks ago. The teenage boys in our family help assemble the poppers, becuase the poppers get eaten as fast as we serve them. One of the many recipes we have tried from Ree's blog.
Suzzanne at 2:48PM on 10/28/09
We've made something similar in my family for a few seasons now - but we do them in the summertime and cook them over the BBQ. They're also great to prepare ahead of a camping trip to throw on the campfire grate. I learned to make them with a big ole' cooked pre-cooked shrimp stuffed into each pepper with the cheese. Amazing!
Gipsygrrl at 4:06PM on 10/28/09
We LOVE LOVE LOVE making these for entertaining in the summer. Only drawback is that they are a bit time consuming and they get eaten REALLY quick. Most times I'm lucky to get one. We stuff them will all sorts of things; we have the classic cream cheese that we dress up with various seasonings; another one is made with minced shrimp, mexican shredded cheese, garlic and butter. Yet another favorite is a mixture of rice, beans, corn and cheese. We've also made them stuffed with peanut butter!!! Trust me, these sound pretty questionable, but they are really good.
Mattrat at 4:55PM on 10/28/09
They are also great when cooked in a smoker. Stick them on a rack below a pork butt and/or brisket so they get some of the drippy goodness from the slow cooking meat, awesome.
Burger365 at 5:12PM on 10/28/09
King Arthur Flour's Baker's Banter
Healthy Yum
The Bitten Word
Tunasmama at 7:28PM on 10/28/09
You can not call this BBQ if it is baked in the oven, cook them on a smoker or off to the side of a smokey grill.
mayor of waldo at 8:40AM on 10/29/09
This recipe is cute, but I know a much better one
ngredients
* 1 can whole water chestnuts
* 2 cups soy sauce
* Approximately 1 1/2 to 2-pounds brown sugar
* 1 dozen large jalapeno peppers
* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
* 1 pound thin sliced bacon
* All-purpose bbq rub
Directions
Preheat grill over medium-high heat.
Take whole water chestnuts, put in a plastic bowl or container of some type and cover the chestnuts with soy sauce. Then pour enough brown sugar into the bowl to cover the chestnuts. It will dissolve as you put it in so it may take a fair amount of brown sugar. Let them marinate, refrigerated, overnight. In the morning, stir the mixture and let sit until you need them.
Cut the stems off the peppers. The larger the jalapeno the better. Core the jalapenos. You can find a tool called a chili twister at most BBQ/fireplace stores. Warm the package of cream cheese in the microwave and squeeze it into a quart freezer bag. Cut a little bit of the corner off the bag and use it as a pastry bag. Fill only the bottom part of the pepper. Now stuff 1 or 2 chestnuts into the pepper. You may need to cut the chestnuts in half. Leave a little space at the top of the pepper. Take a pound of bacon (thin sliced works best) and cut strips of bacon in half. Wrap each pepper with the half slices of bacon. Use toothpicks to keep bacon in place. Using the rest of the cream cheese, fill the remaining space at the top of the peppers. I sprinkle a little bit of all-purpose bbq rub on top for some color. They are ready to cook.
Place onto grill and cook until bacon is done. Watch them closely! If the bacon grease pools it will catch fire. Open grates work good (but the bacon drippings will still catch fire), but an offset fire works best. Also at most BBQ/fireplace stores you can find holders that will hold 1, 2, or 3 dozen jalapenos.
Timothyrows at 9:20AM on 10/29/09