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Double Pork Poppers

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Whole raw jalapeño peppers are hollowed out, stuffed with cream cheese, enrobed in spicy ground pork, wrapped in bacon and baked to perfection.

Makes 6 poppers, serves 3.

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 6 whole raw jalapeño peppers
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 1 lb. ground pork
  • 2 TBL seasoning sauce of your choice (hot sauce, BBQ, etc)
  • 16 oz. thinly sliced bacon (12-15 strips)

Equipment

  • Paring knife
  • Colander
  • Pointy wooden toothpicks
  • Sheet pan and wire rack

1. Hollow out the jalapeños:

  • Insert the paring knife just below the stem at the top of the jalapeño and make an incision about 2/3 of the way down the pepper.
  • Make another slit starting at the same point at the top of the jalapeño that runs parallel to your first cut in a slight arc and ends at the bottom of your first cut. Remove the sliver of jalapeño.  This is the window you’ll use to remove the seeds and stem without damaging the integrity of the jalapeño.
  • Gently insert the paring knife into the top of the slit and sever the membrane from the stem. Scrape the inner wall of the jalapeño to separate the membrane.
  • Pinch the top and bottom of the jalapeño to slightly expand the slit you made and shake the membrane and seeds out into the colander over the sink. This is to make cleanup easier.
  • Prepped peppers ready to be filled.

2. Fill the jalapeños with cream cheese:

  • Use the back of your paring knife to cut a thumb-sized piece of cream cheese from the block.
  • Pinch the ends of the jalapeño and use the knife to gently fill the pepper with the cheese. Fill them up!
  • Continue until all peppers have been filled.

If you overstuff the poppers, the cream cheese will melt out and make a huge mess!

-El Panadorito

3. Enrobe the jalapeños in ground pork:

Mix 2TBL of any seasoning or hot sauce to the ground pork and mix with your hands to incorporate.
Press the jalapeño into a wad of ground pork. Use wet hands to shape the meat all around the pepper.
It’s messy work, but worth it!
Ready for the bacon wrapping.

4 : Wrap them in bacon

  • Drape the end of a bacon slice over the pepper near the top.
  • Wrap the bacon slice around the back of the pepper.
  • Bring back over the top to cover the pork. Secure with a toothpick.
  • Larger peppers like this one require two slices of bacon to fully cover the pork!
  • Ready for baking!

Bake at 375 F // 190 C for 80 minutes, turning twice.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Set the poppers on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and place on the center rack of the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then turn the poppers over and rotate the pan. Bake for another 30 minutes, then flip and rotate again. Cook for a final 20-25 minutes, or until the bacon is uniformly cooked to golden brown.

Using a wire rack separates the bacon from the dripping fat and allows for more even cooking.
Let them rest for about 5 minutes. The bacon will continue to cook and the pork layer will have time to firm up a bit.

“Let them rest for a few minutes. The bacon will continue to cook for a few minutes after you take them out of the oven.”

-El Panadorito

REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS BEFORE EATING!

  • Served with a baked potato topped with butter, chives and white cheddar. Two poppers is considered one serving, but there are usually no leftovers!

Cook with love, and everything will taste wonderful!

-El Panadorito

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