Stuffed Jalapenos – “GrassHoppers”

Ok…This is good no matter how you want to prepare it! You can bake it in the oven or on the BBQ pit. I’m going to try and not be long winded on this one….but this recipe for Stuffed Jalapenos is a labor of LOVE !

Unfortunately because of the quantities i/we have produced for BBQ and Chili Cookoffs…the amount of ingredients has never been perfected! But you will see that it really won’t be a problem.

Also lovingly known as “GrassHoppers” this is a treat you can prepare ahead of time and freeze (foodsaver) for many different parties and get-togethers. Even though there is no “exact” science to these little beauties…You need to try them!

ok…I’m going to do my best.

Ingredients needed:

Whole Raw Jalapenos
Cream Cheese
Raw Sliced Bacon
Toothpicks
Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

Take the Jalapeno and cut in half. Take a small knife or spoon or potato peeler and scrape out the “vein” and seeds. Might want to invest in some rubber gloves because when doing this procedure you DO NOT want to be touching any “sensitive” areas with your hot Jalapeno Oil Fingers!!!!! Trust Me!

Fill the halves of Jalapenos with the Cream Cheese and wrap only once around with Bacon securing with as many toothpicks as you wish. Place on a cookie sheet or a vented non-stick tray. ( you want the bacon to cook without losing the cream cheese). This is the hard part! making sure that all sides of the bacon are cooked. A Fish cooker usually works pretty good because you can flip…or take foil and place loosely over the top to generate heat for the top side of the hoopers.

Once the Jalapenos are cooked/soft and the bacon looks cooked…drizzle bbq sauce all over the top of the hoppers only long enough to heat up the sauce and remove from heat. You will be the hit of any party or function! Like I said before, this is a labor intensive procedure…but the results are well worth it!

Note: I have fried up the bacon, crushed in food processor and then blended with the cream cheese and achieved the same results without having to “wrap”  bacon around  the Stuffed Jalapeno. Because of the different thicknesses of the bacon, sometimes getting the bacon to cook completely is difficult.