Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Grilled Jalepenos

4: stuff & wrap in bacon
Originally uploaded by missysioux

OMG - did I learn a life lesson making these suckers today. First off, my brother & his wife make these whenever we get together and I have watched them make them a few times now... They never wear gloves or do anything to their hands before they get started. I never thought about it much, but now I know that they can do this b/c they have built up a resistance to the peppers. I found this out today the hard way.

After my hands were burning to the point of THROBING and me almost CRYING and so uncomfortable I could BEAT SOMEONE... I did an internet search and found this thread on what to do if you are stupid like me and did not wear gloves to cut & clean hot peppers. I did vinegar, milk, sour cream and finally gave up and ate about 3 aspirin and waited for the stinging to subside. My fingers still feel hot & tingly, but I'm doing much better. Thank GOD.

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PLEASE KEEP THESE THINGS IN MIND:

• Hot peppers are called hot peppers for a reason. Do not touch your eyes (put your contacts in BEFORE preparing) do not touch your sinuses (nose/face/eyes) do not touch your genitals (I know it's hard gentleman) Seriously: think of wiping after going to the bathroom...
• Wear gloves.
• Clean the peppers away from your face into something disposable so you don't have to worry about transferring and a seed or juice flying into your face.
• Also - mind your breathing when you cut, seed & devein the peppers b/c the pepper juice gets into the air: you will be coughing, snotting and sneezing like a total reject as I was today.

The trouble is worth it anyway or I wouldn't even bother to continue to share the recipe :) I will post the recipe the way it was passed to me and then the modifications to make it fit a more zone/paleo lifestyle. When I was thinking about how to modify it, I thought - this is again one of those recipes that you could really get creative with and do almost anything you'd like.

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Version 1 - Laura's Peppers

• 12-15 jalepeno's
• 1 pkg cream cheese
• 1 pkg breakfast sausage (bob evans)
• 1 pound bacon (thinner slice)

1. Trim the stems off of the peppers and cut in 1/2 horizontally
2. Seed and devein the peppers
3. Rinse in cold water (to help get rid of some of the oil that makes it so spicey)
4. Cook off the sausage until done, add cream cheese until softened
5. Stuff pepper halves with mixture and wrap in a slice of bacon (if you don't have that much bacon you can cut in 1/2 to stretch it.)
6. Place in a tin that you can grill in (something cheap/disposable) and grill until bacon is crisp/peppers are tender - about 15/20 mins.

There are a couple places you can brush this recipe up a bit. First the meat (sausage) then the cheese. If you have a favorite sausage that you buy, just remove it from the casing and cook it until done. You need a pound of whatever you like: hot italian, breakfast, chorizo, chicken sausage - etc. The cream cheese offers a lot more moisture and stability in cooking than most other cheeses will give you... however - think of the cheese dips that are popular now (there are some yummy ones at Giant Eagle & Heinen's out here!)... It's a semi-soft cheese shredded and slathered in mayo. Works well for stuffing & baking. You get 8oz of cream cheese in a package, so I would say to use a couple of cups of shredded semi-soft with 3-4 tablespoons of canola/olive oil mayo to make it more workable. Same as above, cook off the sausage, turn the heat off, add the cheese (shredded - not the whole block) and 1-2 tblsp of mayo to start, stir and add a lil more mayo if needed. You don't want it to get completely melted or stringy b/c you then have to scoop the slop into the jalepeno halves.

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Try some different combinations:

• Italian/hot italian sausage with fontina/provelone or gouda
• Breakfast flavor (something heavy in sage like the Bob Evan's) with mozzerella/provelone
• Chorizo with jack/chihuahua
• Chicken sausage (there's an all natural brand that makes a buffalo flavor) with sharp cheddar
• the list goes on...

OK. That's enough to get you started at least. These things are addictive and will quickly become the hit of the party. They are a little work, but worth it. Let me know if you try a different combination and how it comes out!!