Today for a mid-day snack I made Stuffed Jalapenos...

[cherokeeprogressive]

I fried up some Farmer John HOT pork sausage. Mixed that with cream cheese, an equal amount of grated parmesan, a little salt, a little fresh ground black pepper, a couple freshly crushed garlic cloves... then put the whole mixture in a Ziploc baggie and cut a piece off of the bottom corner.

Cut the tops off the jalapenos and cored them with a nifty little tool I got on Amazon, making sure to remove all the seeds and matrix from them. Stood them up on a rack (also from Amazon) with holes slightly larger than a Quarter. They fit perfectly.

I squeezed the mixture from the baggie into the jalapenos in the same fashion you would use a cake icing bag, ensuring that the mixture got all the way to the bottom and filled the jalapenos completely.

25 minutes at 325 degrees.

Freakin' yummy. Next time I'll wrap them in bacon. One note: it takes an extra sharp knife to cut them when you eat 'em. I'm lucky that I can sharpen my Henckels steak knives with a steel so that's not a problem here... but trying to cut the jalapenos with a dull knife winds up squeezing the cheese/pork mixture out.

[GoCubsGo]

1. I make a similar version with tuna instead of sausage.

And, sharp cheddar instead of the Parmesan, although I think I might try it with Parm next time (or maybe cotija). I also slice the jalepenos in half. The cheeses get all nice and toasty that way. I'll bet they'd be good with chorizo...

[cherokeeprogressive]

2. Do you slice them in half and leave the tops on?

I've done them with chorizo... also good. The hot pork sausage lends a heat (HOT pork sausage, at least the Farmer John and Jimmy Dean variety is laughable as "hot&quot that removing the seeds and matrix takes away.

I'm going to try them with shrimp sautéed in jalapeno infused olive oil. Maybe even lobster. I like the cream cheese/parmesan mixture... it gives a lot of flavor.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Usually, I leave the tops on.

I just scrape out the seeds and membranes. I also like to use the really big jalepenos I find here sometimes. They're probably 30-40% bigger than the usual size. Not quite as hot, either, so I am not so diligent about removing all of the membranes.

I'll bet they'd be good with shrimp or other shellfish. Yum!

[pinto]

4. Sounds really good. I've had some w/ cream cheese, sliced shrimp, salt, pepper, lime, cilantro.

Nice bites.

[rdharma]

5. Would it make any sense to slightly parboil the jalpenos before stuffing and baking?

Making the peppers just a little bit softer? This is what I do when I make stuffed bell peppers..... and they turn out much better than the raw stuffed and baked peppers.

This stuffed jalepeno idea sounds quite interesting and tasty!

[pinto]

6. The ones I've had were usually browned a bit before slicing and filling.

Either in a pan or a grill. The grill char is the best, imo.

[rdharma]

7. Err merr gerrd! Stuff and batter those puppies up......

Jalapeno "Chile Rellenos"!

Yum!

[pinto]

8. Good stuff. But we're talking finger food - no forks and knives, just pick up a bite.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. I normally shy away from parboiling anything.

In the case of the jalapenos, I'm afraid the boil would leech out the oils that give the jalapenos their distinctive flavor. That flavor is what it's all about, for me anyway.

Hey, it's nice to talk with you about something that isn't fraught with land-mines and tension such as guns or whatever.

In the future, I may try the half-split lengthwise with a piece of bacon laid on top during the bake. That sounds even better on the grill actually.

Have a Wonderful Evening.

Chris

[cbayer]

9. That sounds so delicious. I usually split them, stuff with cream cheese and wrap in bacon.

Your way requires some more work, but I think it sounds great. I might try with chorizo, as that and jalapenos are plentiful here.

[cherokeeprogressive]

11. Chorizo is good. The hot pork sausage is distinctive in its own right. Being from So. Cal, chorizo

gets old sometimes.

I've also battered them and fried 'em in the Fry Daddy, but their smooth shiny texture makes it hard for the batter to take hold. I've thought about running them across a grater to give the outside some texture and using tempura batter.

Also thought about finely chopping some smokey links to fold into the cheese mixture.