Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers
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| Big fat jalapeno peppers, stuffed, wrapped and ready |
Last year we had the most amazing appetizer at Club Soda in downtown Fort Wayne: Sausage stuffed peppers. They used caribe peppers which, from what I understand, range from mildly hot (at the green stage) to hot hot (if left on the plant until they turn red). I've never seen them in the grocery stores around here so for next year I may grow my own, if I can find the seeds. They were stuffed with chorizo sausage and wrapped in bacon. Not sure how they were cooked. Since that night Beaver and I have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to recreate this recipe. We tried cooking the sausage first and then stuffing the peppers; we tried oven roasting; we tried pan frying; but we finally settled on grilling them on our Weber grill. The actual method will be edited in as soon as I can snag my husband and get the info from him.
Our version uses stuff we always have on hand and it's very tasty! Eat a few stuffed peppers with red beans and rice and you've got a meal, or just eat a few as an appetizer or snack. Last week it was an awesome feeling to be able to walk out to the garden and pick 32 peppers right off the plants!
Sausage-Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers
1 tube Italian sausage
a bunch of the largest jalapeno peppers you can find
sliced bacon, each slice cut in half crosswise
Split the jalapenos in two lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and ribs. Take a few pinches of sausage and mound into one of the halves, capping with the other half. Wrap one of the halved slices of bacon around and around the middle of the pepper to hold it together. If you press and stretch as you roll the bacon adheres to itself and there's no needs to secure the wrap with, say, a toothpick.
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| Beaver's indirect grilling method diagram |
INDIRECT GRILLING METHOD
1. Set up the grill as shown in the diagram.
2. Light 50 charcoal briquettes and start a one hour timer. I use a Weber Chimney.
3. When the charcoal is ready, put spread them on the lower grate to cover roughly one third of the area.
4. Put on the stuffed peppers as shown in the diagram.
5. Add 20 charcoal briquettes when the one hour timer goes off.
6. Cook the peppers until the pepper is done and the bacon good and brown. This takes approximately 45 minutes.