Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Why am I fat in Texas?

Because the food there is so damn TASTY, that's why.  I'm a California girl through  and through.  Born and raised under the uber-body-conscious glow of Hollywood street lamps, I can tell you exactly how many calories there are in a tall skinny vanilla latte and how many extra minutes it'll take you on the treadmill to negate the skinny jean ruining effects of said latte once it passes your lips.

Lucky for me I married a Texan and we get to visit the big BBQ state from time to time.  Out here all bets are off.  It's hard to count carbs when most of the meat you're eating has been marinating in Dr. Pepper for six hours.

I would very much like to share with you a culinary experience that rocked my world over the new year's weekend:

Jimmy Quigly's Texas Pepper Poppers



To me the jalapeno popper was always synonymous with greasy fried batter balls and heart burn.  These little beauties are something else entirely.  Each jalapeno is stuffed with savory cream cheese, wrapped in BACON (yes bacon, the gateway meat) and slowly grilled over medium coals for about an hour.  The bacon slowly crisps and caramelizes while the peppers soften.  The result is an appetizer of such unspeakable yumminess D (my Texan hubby) and I  actually fought over the last one.

Skinny jeans be damned!  I'm going Texas style when it comes to poppers from now on!!

Jimmy Quigly's Texas Pepper Poppers

10 Jalapenos, halved and seeded (wear gloves unless you want to experience fiery eye ball trauma, or worse yet fiery pee-pee trauma for the guys)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of a small white onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste
10 slices bacon
toothpicks

Preparation:

Combine cream cheese, garlic, onion and salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Stuff each pepper half with 2 tablespoons of cream cheese mixture.  Wrap each pepper in bacon and secure with toothpicks.  Grill over medium heat for about an hour or as long as it takes you to drink two beers.  The bacon should be crispy and the peppers soft.  Let cool slightly before scarfing down.


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1 comment:

  1. These sound amazing. I've never made them with bacon. Shame on me! The recipe I love uses cream cheese, as well, but caramelized onions and roasted slivered almonds are added for more depth. :-) Lauren

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