- May 2, 2024
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Spicy things were not in my food repertoire as a child. In fact, I distinctly remember ordering chicken wings with no sauce several times growing up. They say your taste buds change every 7-10 years. Not sure how true that is, or if your taste just elevates and evolves with age, like a good wine or whisky.
While my tolerance for spicy things has been building since my teen years, in the last couple years I have really started to crave spice. I search for good poblano peppers on a regular basis and will sometimes spring for a side of jalapeños with a dish.
Recently I found this rather simple jalapeño popper recipe and put it to the test during a football watching get-together. The recipe is great for three reasons: 1. Bacon, 2. You can add as many jalapeños as you want, and 3. They are bite size and easy to eat a large amount quickly. The later may also be a downfall. These things are addicting.
Well, the poppers were a big hit; I even had to make a second batch. But the real story didn't begin until after the Giants proved dominant on the field, once again, and my guests were gone for the evening.
As I sat on the couch relaxing after a day of cooking, my eyes started to itch, as they do often with seasonal allergies. Forgetting my encounter with jalapeños earlier that day, my hand slowly made its way to my face, stopping on my eye for a brief rub. Brief it was, because the painful sting that quickly took hold of my eyeball reminded me of the strength of that little green pepper.
I sprinted to the bathroom remembering that I had eye drops in the top drawer. But when I got there, they were nowhere to be found. I dumped out the contents of my medicine drawer and attempted to look through a squinted watery eye at the pile on the floor. No eye drops.
The next dump came from my purse and then my work bag. Still, nothing.
I began to feel like I was in a bad dream. Like I was back in high school and the class klutz had spilt chemicals. An eye wash needed to be performed.
I swiftly cleared everything off my bathroom counter, stuck my head in the sink and attempted to allow the running water to filter out the poison that I had unknowingly subjected my eye to. After 10 or so minutes of a constant flow, I was thankful that vision was restored and no one was there to witness my debacle.
So, my one piece of advice for this dish, even if you wash your hands five times, like I did, do not touch your face, especially not the eyes.
Jalapeño poppers
Makes 16
What you need:
a can of crescent dough
about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese (give or take, depending on how much you want to use)
1-2 fresh jalapeños
about 3 strips of bacon (if you want. ... I always want bacon)
What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Chop the jalapeños into small pieces. Clean out the seeds.
Cut the bacon into pieces and then cook it up. You can do it the other way around, but the bacon gets crumbly and might not work as well. Watch bacon closely so it doesn’t burn.
Roll out dough. It's perforated into triangles, but I cut each triangle in half with a pizza cutter and do one popper on each half. You can do it without cutting the crescents in half, for bigger than bite size. Then the recipe will yield 8 larger poppers.
Layer a small dollop of cream cheese, a piece or 2 of jalapeño, and bacon.
Bring the corners of the dough together and twist them together at the top. Press the edges of the dough together so the insides don't gush out.
Bake 10-15 minutes at 350 and munch away!
