So began my quest for other ways to use jalapenos. I'm not a huge fan of really spicy-hot things. When it's so spicy you can't taste anything else, it's too much in my opinion. That being said, I was hesitant to make dishes based around a spicy-hot ingredient but I hated wasting the peppers more. Thanks to Pinterest, I got some great ideas then modified the recipes to suite us. Hope you try some of these!!
1. Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno-Stuffed Chicken
I got the basic recipe from Brown Sugar. But I wanted a little something extra. Hence the bacon wrapping. Tommy took one bite and said, "That'll do just fine."
Preheat the oven to 350.
Mix together until smooth:
6 oz cream cheese
1 c shredded cheese (I used a mix of Monterrey Jack and Sharp Cheddar)
4 jalapenos, deseeded and sliced
Cut a pocket into the side of the chicken breasts. I used 4 small pieces and had a little filling left over. Spoon the filling into the chicken and close the opening with toothpicks or twine. Stuff them as full as you can!!
Assemble a plate with flour, a shallow bowl with 2 beaten eggs, and a plate with bread crumbs.
Heat some oil in a skillet on medium heat.
Roll the chicken in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs, making sure to coat the chicken at each stage.
Place the chicken in the hot oil. The oil should pop and sizzle; if it doesn't it isn't hot enough yet.
Cook the chicken a few minutes on each side until a nice crust forms. Remove chicken from the pan and put on a baking sheet.
In the still-warm pan, fry the bacon, one slice per breast. You want the bacon barely cooked on each side; not crispy because you'll be wrapping it around the chicken.
When the bacon is done, pat off the grease with a paper towel and wrap around the chicken breasts. Use more toothpicks if you need to.
NOTE: I put a wire rack on my baking sheet so the grease from the cooking bacon would drip off but you don't have to.
Pop the chicken in the oven for 20-30 minutes until cooked through. The time really depends on the thickness of the breasts so watch it and make sure the chicken is free of pink in the middle.
Serve with green salad, fruit, and bread. If you have filling left over, you can easily make the next recipe.
2. Crescent Jalapeno Rolls
1 can of crescent biscuits (about 10 biscuits in a can)
Leftover filling from above recipe or mix the following:
2 oz cream cheese
1/4 c shredded cheese
2-3 jalapenos, deseeded and sliced
Put the biscuits on a baking sheet. Spread out the dough a little.
Put about 1 TB of filling in the middle of each piece of dough. Fold the dough in half over the filling, pinching the ends together.
Bake at 400 for 11-15 minutes until golden brown on top.
ADDITIONAL OPTION: If you don't have canned biscuit dough, or you don't want to use it, you can use the same filling - minus the sliced peppers - and fill halved jalapenos. You can add bacon crumbles to the filling but I wrapped half a slice of slightly cooked bacon around them. Pop them in the oven at 350 for maybe 8-10 minutes. Delicious and a little bit more of a flavorful bite with lots of heat!
3. Salsa
Layer ingredients in the order below in a food processor:
5-6 roma tomatoes, cut in quarters
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, cut in pieces
1 can green chilis
4 jalapenos, halved and deseeded
1 TB lime juice
Pulse until desired consistency. We like our salsa a little chunky and not too much liquid so I dump the blended salsa into a colander and drain the juice before putting it in a bowl and sticking it in the fridge.
4. Nachos
Do I even need to write a recipe for this?? Chips, melted cheese, sliced jalapenos, beans, meat, salsa, sour cream...there's no going wrong with these.
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