Shaker Gourmet: Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Jalapeños

There are about 35,671 versions of these on teh internets. They are so good, even just as a concept, that it's probably worth it to try all of them.

Yesterday we hosted a shindig and I made these. It's a good thing everyone arrived when they did or else I may have eaten the whole platter before anyone else had a chance! Anyway, this is how I made them:

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Jalapeños
A dozen fresh, medium sized jalapeño peppers
one & a half pkgs of cream cheese
one clove elephant garlic (or about 4 regular cloves)
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
thin sliced bacon
latex or plastic gloves

-- Wear latex or plastic gloves when handling all these peppers and their insides. Halve, lengthwise, the peppers and de-seed/de-rib them (if you like it HOTTT, leave in some seeds). If you don't like it HOTTT much at all, you can soak the halved peppers in cold milk for about 10 minutes OR drop them into boiling water for a couple minutes. Drain, dry (and/or cool) before stuffing. Both methods are supposed to reduce the heat factor (though I have not done either).

--Cut the cream cheese into smaller blocks. Put in bowl of food processor. Cut the garlic into chunks and also put in with cream cheese. Add a bit of the salt & pepper (about 1/2 tsp salt). Process until the garlic is totally minced into teeny bits and worked into the cream cheese. If the cream cheese mix is very soft (more like "saucy"), then put it in the fridge for 10 - 15 minutes to harden up a bit.

--Cut the package of bacon in half, down the middle (so you're cutting all the bacon in half). Put on some new gloves. Spoon some of the cream cheese mix into each pepper half, filling it nice and full but not overflowing. Wrap a halved piece of bacon around each one. Secure with tooth pick, if necessary.

--Grill over medium heat until bacon is crispy. OR bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. If baking, put peppers on a rack inside the pan so the bacon grease will drip down. Let cool for a few minutes before eating.

They're delicious and I'm craving more. LOL

I did make a vegan version for a guest that was very similar--just used Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese and mixed it with garlic, salt, & pepper. No bacon, of course. Very easy and also turned out tasty!