Put together a quick appetizer to prepare for college football being a week away. Paired it with a Lucky Buckett certified evil beer. A good combination. I have tried doing them bacon wrapped but they take longer to cook as it is actually pretty difficult to get the bacon to turn out crispy all the way through. Recipe is quite simple.
Wash 12 jalapenos and cut them in half. Then remove as much of the interior as you would like to remove or keep some of the heat. Next in a skillet cook up about 5 or 6 pieces of bacon to a nice and crunchy consistency so they crumble easily. In a large mixing bowl combine one package of softened cream cheese, bacon pieces, cracked black pepper, red pepper flakes, and touch of garlic powder. Then take a mixer and using a low setting slowly mix all the ingredients to get them thoroughly combined and lightly whipped. You may want to add a small splash of milk if it is too thick but be careful not to make it too runny. You want the consistency to be thinner than cream cheese but thicker than sour crème. Then take a knife or spoon and spread the filling into the jalapeno boats and place the finished ones on a baking sheet. If you desire something with a bit more zip same some of the filling and cut a habanero pepper up and mix it in with the leftover filling and add it to the remaining jalapeno boats. Once all boats are full you can sprinkle whatever you would like over the top. I did a light dusting of paprika and a dry rub I use for barbeque. Lastly setup the grill for indirect cooking and let the jalapeno boats cook on the grill grates over indirect heat for about 20-30 minutes. I would check them every 15 minutes to make sure they are not getting overcooked. I also added some cherry wood chips for a mild flavor. All the ingredients are pretty inexpensive to purchase but the results are a pretty tasty finger food which would be perfect for a gameday.
Next up I am hoping to put together a recipe for green bell stuffed peppers...