The quintessential Seattle morning; cool, misty, briny, and most of all gray. Gray from the Sound to the Heavens. Not rainy, just gray. My favorite kind of gray day. The kind of day that beckons you to stay in your pajamas, open all your window blinds, climb into your most comfy chair and read challenging books and watch terrible movies all day long, whilst you are cuddled up under your most favorite blanket...mmmmm lovely gray day.
So when my friend rang me in the morning, to invite me to go for breakfast, I instead invited my friend over to my place and I would make us both breakfast, as I had no intention of leaving the coziness of my house to spend my morning sitting on some uncomfortable bench, at a slightly sticky table, while being ignored by some snarky hipster server, and spending too much money on a meal I could make myself...better...and I didn't even have to get out of my jammies.
Some masa flour and a little water, and in minutes I had corn tortillas in my skillet. Strong pot of coffee brewing. In my pantry I had eggs, some goat chevre. a few strips of bacon, and some fresh jalapeno peppers, the makings for a decent scramble or omelette. But a gray day like today calls for something a little quirkier than an omelette or scrambled eggs. I decided to make something I had never had before...Jalapeno Poppers.
I have never had...a Jalapeno Popper. Basically because I could never say, "I'll have the Jalapeno Poppers." Poppers. Poppers. "I want the Jalapeno Poppers." (never gonna happen out in public.)
So I got to work, stuffing my jalapeno peppers.
First, I made sure the peppers were washed well, since I bought
them at the 'Used Fruit Store' and I'm sure about 1000 people had
touched them before I bought them. Then I took the stems off.
Next I sliced the peppers open, lengthwise.
These were going to be spicy with all those seeds.
*It is also a good idea to wear a pair of rubber gloves during
this whole process, or you could end up with a nice
capsicum burn in your hands and other parts of your body
if you touch anything.
Using a grapefruit spoon, I scraped out all the seeds and
membrane from inside the peppers. I want them zesty but not
mouth burning.
Using my (gloved) fingers I placed a small amount of goat
chevre into each half of the peppers. Just enough to be flush
with the rim of the pepper.
Stick the goat cheese stuffed halves back together again.
I cut my bacon strips in half and wrapped each
pepper in a half of strip of bacon. You can secure the bacon
to the pepper with a toothpick or small skewer, but I used the only
thing I had, some bamboo cocktail picks.
*I soaked the picks in water for awhile so they wouldn't
burn during cooking.
I had preheated the over to 450˚ F.
Then I placed the bacon wrapped peppers on a baking sheet,
I cooked the peppers for 10-15 minutes, until the bacon was very crispy
and the jalapeno was tender and the cheese melty.
We enjoyed out Jalapeno Poppers with corn tortillas, some
fried eggs, a little heated salsa and lots of coffee.
We ate in out jammies too!
Baked Jalapeno Poppers
6 large Jalapeno Peppers
2 oz. soft Goat Cheese, I used Chevre
3 strips of thick-cut Bacon
Kosher Salt & Pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 450˚ F.
Put on some rubber/latex gloves!
Cut Jalapeno Peppers in half, lengthwise. With a spoon, scrape out the seeds and membrane. Fill each jalapeno half with a little Goat Cheese, just to the rim of the pepper. Put the filled halves back together and wrap each jalapeno with a half slice of Bacon. Secure the bacon by sticking toothpick or skewer through the middle.
Bake on a sheet pan for 10-15 minutes, until the bacon is crispy. If, after 15 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off.
Sprinkle with Kosher Salt & Pepper. Serve immediately, but they’re also great at room temperature.
Nom Nom.
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