Stuffed Jalapeno's

Everyone has one, and this is mine.   My fall back, go to, can't think of what else to make potluck dish.   

I actually had this recipe on my other blog, but I'm slowly (very slowly) turning that blog into my photo blog so I wanted to get this recipe over here and share it again.  Besides which my Jalapeno bush has a few jalapeno's on it and my mind keeps thinking of all the great eating ahead.  All I can say about that is, the pressure is on for my little plant.
Just don't tell it, OK?
 
Stuffed Jalapeno's are easy to prepare, pretty to look at, and yummy to eat.  

Here goes;

Start with some nice fresh jalapeno's, give them a bath. 
See the pretty red ones mixed in with the green ones.  









You then need to cut them in two, length wise and remove the seeds and membranes.  And please, please, please remember to use a glove.   I keep one on my left hand as I am right handed, and this means I can handle the jalapeno's without fear of getting jalapeno juice on my hand and from there to the eyes or other sensitive places.

Pile them up in a pan;

Now prepare the filling;

Cooked sausage and cream cheese

Smoosh them together, (check out the glove, more about it later),

Stuff the peppers, then add a slice of cheese on top,  and put them in the oven.

Pull them out after a half hour or so and enjoy;

Here's the full recipe:

Stuffed Jalapeno's

1-2 8 oz. Cream Cheese

1 to 1.5 lb. Sausage, fried ( I use a good flavoured sausage, you can amp it up by using a hot sausage if you like)

Jalapeno's (15 - 20 or ...)  And if I can find some that are red along with the green, I get them.  Makes for a pretty presentation. 

Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese  for topping.  Use whatever kind you like, or do as I do and use Colby Jack cheese.  But only for those people who have trouble deciding which one they want.  

1 pair disposable gloves.

Start by putting on a pair of disposable gloves, or at least one glove, the one you will be handling the jalapeno's with. I usually just glove my left hand because I'm right handed. Trust me on this, you won't be sorry. Jalapeno's can be downright spiteful and nasty if you happen to rub a sensitive part of yourself if you haven't protected your hand from the jalapeno juice.  I know I just repeated myself, but it bears repeating, repeatedly.  Did that make sense? 

Cut Jalapeno's in half and remove seeds and the membrane inside. Set aside.

Fry the sausage up, breaking it up a little, drain and set aside to cool.

Dump the cream cheese into a bowl and then put the cooled sausage on top and smoosh it all together. (I've found that if I use the other glove for this, it makes for a quicker cleanup. And no messy fingers. )

Fill the jalapeno's with about a tablespoon or so of the cream cheese/sausage mixture and place in a baking pan. When they are all filled, add a piece of cheese on top and put it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at about 325 deg. Take them out of the oven, put on a serving dish and put them on the table. I would advise standing back at this point, as they tend to disappear.   You can also par cook the jalapeno's for a couple of minutes in the microwave, just means you don't need to put them in the oven for as long.  And in the summer, that's a good thing.

Best part of this, if you end up with more filling than jalapeno's (it has been known to happen), just stick it in the freezer and use up the next time. Same goes with jalapeno's, you can stick them in the freezer after prep and use them up later on. Or just throw the leftover jalapeno's into some other dish you need some heat in.

There are no exact measurements, roughly one pound sausage to 2 packages cream cheese to about 15 or 20 jalapeno's, I think. I usually figure on about 2-3 per person, but that can vary as well.

Most important of all, enjoy.

Chicken Jalapeno Rollups

OK, found it.

The recipe I wanted to make for Taste and Create this month.   And guess what?  Yup it has Jalapeno's in it.  Really, this month should be dedicated to Tex Mex/Mexican inspired food.

Nah, I just like spicy foods.


I was asked to join a group of bloggers called Taste and Create awhile back.  Min assigns us each a blog, and we are tasked to make a recipe from that blog, and blog about it.   This month I got No Reason Needed, and got lost in her blog, really, I went from one recipe to another and finally found 'The Recipe' to make. Chicken Jalapeno Rollups 

But she does have a bunch more recipes that I want to check out.   And when I do, I'll tell you all about them.  
 
  I also attend a weekly get together with a lovely group of ladies and we talk, and nosh and generally enjoy ourselves.   One of the things we do each week is bring a little something to nibble on.  This could be as simple as chips and dip, although Hummus in various forms are always a big hit.  But I wanted to try this recipe and TA DA, I had the perfect venue for it.     So I made a double batch, thinking that I could share it later on, but there were very few leftovers.   Someone called them downright more'ish and I think they were right.  

First off, I think this is the first time I've ever purchased Pillsbury Crescent roll dough.  Really, it is.  I much prefer to make my own stuff from scratch.  Well, with the exception of beans, never have gotten the hang of cooking beans without that little hard center.

So here it is.   I had some leftover cooked chicken breast in the freezer from making some Pepper Jack Enchilada's earlier in the week, and decided that they would be perfect for this.  And I always have Jalapeno's on hand, either frozen or 'en escabeche', just cause you never know when you'll need some.   Wait a minute, I had all this stuff in my fridge and freezer with the exception of the Crescent dough, cool, I was prepared.

Chicken Jalapeno Rollups

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature (very important, trust me on this)
1/2 cup chopped, cooked chicken
2-3 tablespoons minced jalapeno's  (from a jar)(I also added in two or three pieces of the pickled carrot that came with my jalapeno's en escabeche)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped green onions (I used two onions)
1 can Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough

Mix together all the ingredients other than the dough. 

Then unroll the dough, and pinch together the serrations a little.  I found this was a lot easier to roll out when I actually separated the pieces a little.   You can see where I cut it.

Divide the filling into two equal parts, then divide again, if doubling the recipe like I did.  Just makes it a little easier to get even amounts of filling onto the dough.

 Look at the little bits of carrot in there, don't they look pretty?   Sorry, couldn't resist a closeup of the filling on the dough.

Spread out the filling a little and then roll them up, lengthwise.

And I did not get a picture of the next process, but I cut each log in half and then in half again, and finally in half again.   This gave me 16 pieces from each of the two pieces of dough that were in the can.  Which if you count them, means you get 32 pieces from each recipe. 

Ready to bake.   I love to use parchment paper for baking things like this, so much easier to clean up later on.    And the next time I make these, I will actually refrigerate the logs for a little while to firm up the filling a little, I think it would make it easier to cut and also eliminate the slightly drunken look that these unbaked bits of goodies got.    Just saying...

And before I forget, you need to bake these in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.   Never hurts to pull one out a little early and taste test either, I mean you do want to make sure they're done, doncha?

 I will make something like this again, but you know I was thinking, some nice smoked salmon, a little cream cheese, some dill, might make for a very tasty bite.  

And you know if I make them that way, you'll hear about it.  

Æbleflæsk

Æbleflæsk (Apple with Pork)

I'm going back to my Danish roots again. Mainly because I managed to score some really awesome bacon the other day, and had some apples that needed to be eaten or cooked or something. And I also had some lovely Vidalia onions in the cupboard/pantry and being Danish they all added up to one dish, Æbleflæsk. 

* Vegetarian version at bottom of page.


Danes are known for eating well.   Not much was wasted on a farm, and housewives often put together what they had on hand for a meal.   Rye Bread was, and is, a staple, and there are many open face sandwiches which have Rye Bread as a base.    I made another dish awhile back which employed cabbage and bacon (Brunkål med Flæsk) on top of a slice of Rye Bread,  and this dish is just as good, but in a slightly different way.

Only four ingredients, but totally sublime together. And served on a nice piece of Rye Bread, heaven.

Don't discount the combination, the apples and onions carmelize together and with the smokiness of bacon, become totally sweet. I have to say I add onion to my Æbleflæsk, I really don't know how traditional this is, but I love onions and apples cooked together and when you add pork, especially good bacon, it's out of this world.

Start by frying up a couple slices of good, meaty bacon, you really don't need more than a couple or three slices per person.

While they are frying, cut up an onion into slices. I usually just cut the onion in half lengthwise and then slice it from there. Set aside, and wash, core and slice an apple.

Note to self:  Take stickers off apples before photo session.

Apples and onions, oh my.   Yum.

Remove the cooked bacon from the pan, set aside. Drain most of the bacon fat from the pan and reserve it for another use. Next add the apple and onions and let them cook together over low heat, until they soften, then turn the heat up a little, and finish cooking.

Apples, onions and bacon in the pan.

I like my apples and onions to get some color to them. I also like the bacon cooked together with the apple and onion   Add the reserved bacon back into the pan, and cook for a few more minutes. Serve on a piece of good rye bread, the denser the better. This is a sandwich which is meant to be served open faced and eaten with a knife and fork.

Looks good enough to eat.   (and it disappeared minutes later)

Go ahead and try this, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The smoky flavor of the bacon enhances the caramelized apples and onion and  puts this over the top.  

Recipe:  Æbleflæsk      Serves 2

6 Slices of bacon,  3 per person
1  apple, sliced 
1  onion, sliced
2 slices Rye Bread, one per person. 
Cook bacon til done.    While this is cooking, peel the onion and slice the onion and the apple.  Take bacon out of pan and place aside.   Drain pan of most of the fat, leaving about 1-2 tsp. of bacon fat in the pan.    Add in the onion and apple and cook until it has started to turn color, and caramelized a little.   Add the bacon back into the pan and continue cooking.    When the onions and apple are nice and browned, take out of pan and serve on a slice of rye bread.    You can up the quantities depending on how many people you are serving.
Enjoy.

* You can also make this vegetarian by omitting the bacon and cooking the onion and apple in some olive oil.  Not only would it be meat free, it would also be a lot more heart healthy.    I've done it like this many times.  And apart from the tsp. of olive oil, it's also pretty fat free.   Onions and apples aren't high in calories, and their health benefits prepared with olive oil, well, let's put it this way, it's all good for you that way.

Stromboli

I've been experimenting again.

This time with Pizza dough, trying to recreate what to us is the 'perfect pizza' and along the way I ended up with way too much dough the other day.   I used part of the dough for our pizza on Saturday and saved the rest for Boat Club.  

And since I had lots and lots of toppings left over from Pizza Night ( I will post about those adventures another time) and I had all this dough sitting and aging in my fridge I decided to make Stromboli's.   I've never even eaten a Stromboli, but I've seen them in real life.   And the internet makes a great place to search for 'how-to's' and pictures and everything.    So I looked at about a dozen or more pictures, and decided to just go ahead and DO IT!  Make a Stromboli, that is.

I took the dough out of the fridge, and I divided the dough in half.patted it out, and then used my rolling pin to make it  a rectangle roughly 13 x9 inches.        I had all kinds of meat but also a lot of veggies so I made one with meat and cheese and one with just veggies.

And got busy rolling the first one up, just like a jelly roll, and forgot to take a picture of the meat and cheese.   I did get a shot of the veggie one though.

After rolling them up, I placed them on a baking sheet that had been sprinkled with corn meal.

 Slashed the tops as per instructions, and baked them for about 20 minutes at 450 deg.  Yeah, I said 450 deg. 
I was running late and didn't let them sit and proof at all, cause basically I had to get them in the oven, baked and out the door in less than an hour and I made it!!!!  

I also wet the tops with a little water and sprinkled them with some oregano and red pepper flakes.   Next time I will do an egg wash instead, the spices will stick better.   


And there you have it, my first adventures with Stromboli.  

Oh and by the way, I used Ham, Genoa Salami and Pepperoni along with a pre-shredded 6 cheese mixture on the meat one, just layered cheese, meat and then rolled it up lengthwise like a jelly roll.    And for the veggie one, I think the picture speaks for itself.   You can also use some good frozen bread dough as well.  I think it will work out great.  

The next time I make these, I'm going to put some seasoning inside, I think it could use a sprinkle of oregano and marjoram as well as maybe,  a touch of red pepper flakes.     And I will try to make some home marinara sauce for dipping.  This time I used Ragu Pizza sauce.

 

 So there you have it, another meal down, now onto the next challenge.   Cleaning my oven.  Yeah, the pizza sauce dripped off of my brand new pizza stone and well, let me just say this, it's time to clean the oven. 

Boat Club for May

 

It turned out to be an Italian kind of night at Boat Club this month.  Well, two of us brought Italian themed dishes and then there were the salads and dips and other great food, but the theme was Italian.

I made some Stromboli, which was fun cause I'd never, ever had it before and wanted to use up the rest of the pizza dough I had in the fridge that was leftover from the Pizza I made on Saturday.   Plus of course I had a bunch of toppings that were left over as well.   I'll post about my Stromboli adventures later on this week.

Without further ado, and absolutely no drum rolls, here are the dishes and foods that were brought.

Potato Salad, I do love Potato Salad.  Marilyn made the salad as well as the skillet cake.

Lasagna, wonderful and saucy.  It was good, and it all disappeared as well.   

Stromboli, and there wasn't a slice left at the end of the night.












Salad, brought by Harriet, and there was so much good stuff on there that you didn't need any dressing.

Crackers and see that little white pot to the right?  It had some awesome Spinach Dip in it. 

Broccoli Cheese dip made by Brenda, she always brings great stuff. 











And this cabbage salad.   I believe Doug made, and one of these days I'll try to remember to ask him for the recipe.   It was good

 These pickles were fun, heavy on the cloves, but I did eat a couple cause they were tasty.   I think they would go great on a turkey sandwich with some leftover dressing and cranberry sauce.   Just sayin...

 Now this was fun.   Karen and Mark brougth this, from a trip they just came back from.  Beer made from Grits.  How southern can you get?   And it was tasty too. 

 Quinn usually makes the meat dish, but Cheryl Ann did it this time and they were so good.  Of course wings are my favorite part of the chicken anyway.   20 minutes at 375 deg. then turn them over and cook an additional 20 minutes and sprinkle with Chicken Seasoning salt from Dollar General.   Had to share the recipe.  Besides which, it's now in print so I don't have to try and remember how to do it.   She also had BBQ sauce and Hot Sauce to put on if you wanted.  I thought the three or four wings I had were just fine without the sauce. 

Pat makes the most awesome dressing for this salad and I want the recipe for it.  She has said she will get it to me, sometime.    It was good as usual. 

And now for the desserts:

Cake, can never go wrong with this.

Marilyn brought one of her famous skillet cakes, she actually bakes them in an electric skillet.    I think I've got one or two recipes for them so far, just still trying to hunt down the magic skillet so I can try and make them myself.  

 Last and not least, Coconut Cake.   Yummy. 
I do love Coconut Cake, and Coconut cream pie and toasted coconut and .....

Sorry got carried away there.  








That's the wrap up for the dishes this month, as you can see we had a lot of good food, and best of all we got together with friends and had a great time.