Jalapeño Poppers

Here is a simple and delicious appetizer that is great for an afternoon or evening party.  I made them the first time because I was being pressured to use up all the jalapeño peppers that I had bought (They were on sale!), but I have made them often again, sometimes at the request of my wife.  

Occasionally a friend will comment that they are a bit hot, usually as they are reaching for a second or third popper.  And for those who cannot tolerate the heat from peppers, I suggest that they try the stuffed mushrooms.

INGREDIENTS:

Jalapeño peppers (2 to 2 1/2 inches long ones are best)

Cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese

Bacon 

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 375º.

Cut the strips of bacon into thirds or halves.  (I use halves of thick cut bacon, which doesn’t stretch as much as ordinary bacon, though I have also used thirds of regular commercial bacon.) Put a roasting rack on a baking pan.

Put on your rubber gloves.  Wash and cut the jalapeños in half lengthwise.  With a spoon or knife, remove the seeds and white membrane.  Fill each half with softened cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese.  Wrap each jalapeño half with bacon,  Secure the bacon with a toothpick to finish the popper and place it on the rack. 

Bake the poppers about 22 to 27 minutes until the bacon starts to brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTES:  The amount of cheese you need depends on the size of the peppers.  An eight ounce package of cheese will be plenty for 24 poppers.  Neufchatel cheese seems to work just as well as cream cheese.  The major difference is that Neufchatel has fewer calories and is a little less creamy in the poppers, but people seem to like them equally well.  Wear rubber gloves while working with hot peppers unless you know that you can take the heat. 

Corn & Sausage Chowder

One of the advantages of growing up in northern Wisconsin was being able to take your prom date to a good supper club and have a cup of clam chowder before the steak appeared.  Although I discovered that I liked it, the chowder was first an act of rebellion:  My mother did not make clam chowder.

Chowder was made with clams, and they were slimy things unlike those delicious bass, bluegills, bullheads, northerns, walleyes and trout that she cleaned and cooked for us hundreds of times.

She did, however, make lots of soups and stews that probably should have been called chowders.  Chowders are thickened soups or stews usually made with milk or cream.  Traditional clam chowder is thickened with crushed crackers or ship’s biscuit.

I’ve never eaten ship’s biscuit, but I have eaten stewed tomatoes thickened with crackers to the consistency of a chowder.  Pretty tasty, especially if some green peppers and onion are simmered with the tomatoes.

There are vegetable chowders made with various combinations of corn, carrots, onions, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower.  Over the years, Mom made versions of all of these.  Some of them were pretty good.

Besides clams, there are chowders made with cod, salmon, crab, shrimp and chicken, most with onions for flavor and potatoes to help with the thickening.  I haven’t found the recipe yet, but there is probably a Carnivore Chowder that omits all vegetables to emphasize the meat.

Here is a chowder that combines meat and vegetables.  It is one of my favorites because it is so easy to make and also lets me virtuously declare that I ate mostly vegetables for dinner.

INGREDIENTS:
3 large or 4 medium white potatoes
1 1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. dried marjoram
3 cups water
3/4 lb. pork sausage
1 small onion, about 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter. chopped
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn
1 15 oz. can creamed corn
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup water
2 T flour
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce (optional)

PROCEDURE:

Peel and dice the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.  You want about six cups of the diced potatoes.  Peel and finely chop the onion.  You should have about 3/4 cup.

Combine the potatoes, salt, marjoram, and water in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Boil until the potatoes begin to get tender.  Remove the pot from the heat unless you are ready to assemble the chowder.  Do not drain the potatoes; the flavored potato water is the base of the broth.

While the potatoes are boiling, cook the sausage over medium heat in a skillet, breaking the meat into smaller pieces with a spatula or wooden spoon.  Add the chopped onion when the sausage is nearly done and continue cooking until the onion is translucent.

Do not brown the meat or onion.  If there is more than a tablespoon of fat in the pan, drain off the excess, add the meat and onions to the potatoes and return the pot to the heat.

Stir in both cans of corn and the half and half.  Mix the flour with the half cup of water and stir it into the soup.  Add the pepper, stir and bring the chowder to a simmer and cook gently for three or four minutes.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Add some hot sauce or more pepper if you like.  Serve with good bread and a salad.

NOTES:  This recipe makes six generous servings.  The chowder is excellent warmed up for lunch a day or two later.