2014′s Week #4 Winner: Penalty Flag Applewood Smoked Bacon Wrapped Poppers
By Ron Atanus from Mt. Prospect, IL
Ingredients:
18 large jalapeno peppers
1 8oz container of Philadelphia cream cheese with chives
6 green onions
1 lb Applewood Smoked Bacon (thinly sliced)
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of coarse black pepper
1 Granny Smith apple
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
36 toothpicks
Directions:
1. Pepper preparation: Wearing disposable latex gloves, slice each pepper lengthwise. Do not remove stems. Using a spoon remove all seeds from pepper halves (being very careful during the preparation process not to touch your face or rub your eyes!)
2. Cream cheese filling preparation: Slice and dice the Granny Smith Apple removing core and seeds. Dice into 1/4 in pieces. Thinly slice the green onions into 3/16 in width. In a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese, apple pieces, garlic powder, green onions and black pepper. Mix until consistent
3. Fill each pepper with the cream cheese mixture
4. Cut the bacon lengths in half and wrap each individual pepper with one bacon half strip in a corkscrew wrap. Secure with a toothpick
5. Prepare a baking pan lined with aluminum foil
6. Drizzle olive oil evenly on aluminum foil to prevent sticking during baking
7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
8. Space peppers on aluminum foil
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes
10. Turn peppers over
11. Bake additional 10-12 minutes until bacon is crisp
12. Serve and enjoy with an Ice Cold Beer or beverage of choice, cheering on a Chicago Bears Victory!
