Bacon Wrapped Cheesy Jalapeno Goodness...

Ok, I know this recipe is all over the web, but this is MY blog and I'm going to write about it if I damm well want to....

I came across it one day while looking for a dish to bring to Thursday night dinner. I have these fabulous friends Tex (of the band My New Enemy) and Sarah who put on an open house style dinner every Thursday night. The food in absolutely amazing. Texas is an incredible cook, very creative with solid skills, and Sarah is the sweetest, warmest metal wife you could ever imagine. Basically Tex cooks, whoever shows up, shows up, and we eat, drink and have a very merry time. There are lots of kids running around, playing in the yard, watching movies, screaming, crying and carrying on in that blissfully happy way that little friends do.
We're like a family that actually likes each other. I feel very lucky to part of this event, and even though it is not required, I do like to bring something, only because I love to cook and share good food with great people.

Since I have come to be known as the bacon girl, I thought I'd better represent and bring some sort of bacon dish...and because I have a constant supply of the magical pork product it's an easy decision. I have to admit though that I'm not really that big on spicy foods and the use of hot peppers. But I do love the flavour of jalapenos and they're not really that hot compared to others, so I thought what the hell, lets give it a go, at the very least I think most people would at least try them. Boy was I right, they were devoured in minutes, all the bacon grease sopped up by a bunch of happy looking misfits :)

So here is MY version, most likely the best one out there....

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos

Here is what you will need...

- 12-16 large jalapenos
- 1 brick of cream cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 lime
- chopped cilantro, about a handful
- S&P
- 6-8 slices bacon, cut in half
- lots of tooth picks

And this is how you do it...

Preheat oven or bbq to 350 degrees.

1. Slice jalapenos in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and ribs.

2. Place in a large bowl, or if you're lucky like me the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer, the cheeses, garlic, squeeze in the lime juice and a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix well till smooth.

3. Spoon the mixture into the patiently waiting jalapeno boats, leveling off at the top...or if you're Karen, overflowing to the point of obscenity.

4. Wrap each filled jalapeno in a half slice of bacon, securing with a tooth pick. 4. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so, if bbqing on LOW for as long as it takes for the bacon to be cooked. You want it still a bit soft, not crispy.

5. Let cool a bit before inhaling! The next week that Karen made these, I ate one pretty much straight out of the oven and my tongue was burnt for days.

This is a super easy appy idea, and very versatile, you can put whatever else you like in with the cheese mixture, I think Karen used like 5 different cheeses, but I recommend you DO NOT use cheddar cheese, I tried this with the bit of leftover mixture and the cheese leaked out and burned...it was still good, but the cheddar didn't add anything to it. I think maybe some crab or shrimp meat would be good, smoked salmon, more bacon....

I saw it on a cooking show where they topped the jalapeno, scooped out the insides, piped in plain cream cheese, stuffed in a marinated water chestnut, more cream cheese, wrapped it in bacon a baked them in a cool holder that held them upright. Sounds simple, but the way that eejit Guy Fieri was going on about it you'd think it was filled with liquid gold...he's such a douche... but anyways, the point is that you can get creative, try whatever you like because I can't imagine there is any way you could screw up a jalapeno wrapped in bacon...unless you forgot the bacon...