Some of my readers and I are cooking our way through the book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Feel free to join in, what I’m calling, The Pioneer/Pirate Project any time! The more the merrier!
So, how did it go my fellow pirate chefs? Did you make ‘em?
I put all of them together on Saturday evening. I read in the book that you can prepare them up to 24 hours in advance and keep them in the fridge until you want to bake them, and this seemed to work just fine.
Overall, the prep was fairly simple, albeit a little time consuming. I did decide to wear gloves for slicing the jalapenos, and I scraped out all to most of the seeds, since I was going for a as mild a version as possible in hopes that the kids would be brave and try them. I had no problems with the bacon wrapping process, although I did opt to place the toothpicks in before brushing with the BBQ sauce, rather than after like the directions said. I did this because I thought it would be less messy, and because I’m a rebel at heart.
I put a pineapple tidbit in half of my poppers’ filling, and to be honest, I didn’t find the addition all that noticeable. Maybe it was because I was using canned instead of fresh. Maybe it was because the tidbit size was too small. I don’t know, but next time I probably wouldn’t go to the trouble of that step….not that it was all that much trouble really.
(Please ignore the oven that needs to be cleaned and focus on the poppers. Thank you.)
I’d say that these were a hit at my house. Big D, Indiana Mimi and I all really liked them. Dirty Harry thought they were okay, and Bonny Annie, who hates all things spicy, ate one without much comment. Cap’n Jack Henry, who is perfectly willing to put anything at all in his mouth, was not afforded the opportunity. I really didn’t think they were spicy at all, which was interesting to me since it was a fresh jalapeno pepper we were dealing with. The removal of the seeds must be really significant.
The one improvement would be to figure out how to get the bacon crispier. I think next time I might try baking at a higher heat for less time, and see what that might do. Any other thoughts on that?
Also, next time, I will do a better job of picking out similiar sized peppers. I bought mine on Saturday afternoon at Publix, and I think about 75% of my town was in the store at the same time, so I was rushed and agitated when I was choosing and just started flinging the peppers in my cart with wild abandon. When I got home I realized I had a mixed bag of sizes, ranging from tiny to huge. I think uniform sizing would be more ideal.
I only received pictures this time from my sister, Debbie. Here are some shots of her adventure…
Thanks, Deb for sharing! Love that you are wearing your Bears sweatshirt, even though they didn’t even make the play-offs! Please, please, please share your story about your pre-heating/Tupperware debacle in the comments. I almost shared it for you, but thought you could probably share it with more gusto…since it was your husband and your Tupperware.
It’s not too late to send pictures if you forgot. I can still add them at any time. kellie@thepiratemom.com
Okay, so let’s discuss these babies. Here are some questions to consider…
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Did you try any deviations from the original recipe?
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What were the general reactions of your “tasters”?
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Would you make this recipe again?
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Did you have any mishaps?
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What did you like/not like about the process and/or the recipe in general?
We’re going a total different direction for our next assignment. It is in the Sweets section of the book: Red Velvet Cake! I thought this would be good for a Valentine’s treat for your family, friends or significant other. The recipe is found on pps. 233-235 of the book (almost the very end!) I couldn’t find this recipe on her site, so I think you’ll need the book for this one. However, if you don’t have it yet, feel free to use another red velvet recipe (from scratch!) and chime in anyway. It might be fun to do a comparison. I will post about this recipe late next week…probably Thursday or Friday, so it will give you plenty of time to pull it off. Happy baking!
Okay, first, I did add some diced peaches to half of the poppers. Like you, I couldn’t taste a difference, and wouldn’t bother again. Brady LOVED these. So did our friend Ted. I ate three. While the flavor was excellent, my mouth was burning after just one and made myself eat the other 2. Braden, my 9 year old, liked the bacon and filling, but didn’t eat the peppers. Go figure.
I thought the put-together process took a little long for the outcome. And I cooked them an additional 30-40 minutes to try to crisp the bacon. I don’t like limp bacon. It kinda scares me.
Now for the funny misadventure!
Brady, my husband, had gone over to our friends’ house to help install a dishwasher. So my friend Anna was hanging out here and acting as my photographer for this adventure. We headed into the kitchen and I turned on the oven to 275. Then I started putting the poppers together. They took about an hour. I was removing my bbq-laden gloves and had asked Anna to “pop” the poppers into the oven. She opened the oven and I hear, “Uh, Debbie?”
I turn around to find 2 plastic collanders, 3 tupperware containers, 1 metal bowl and 2 9×13 pans stacked in my completely pre-heated oven! Apparently, when we were cleaning up for our oldest’s birthday party the day before, Brady had decided he didn’t have time to wash and put these items away and stuck them in the OVEN for safe-keeping and then failed to tell me about this. So one tupperware was a goner and the larger of the collanders will forever have an interesting new shape (and it was fairly new!) Brady got a text that was a little less than friendly!
But overall, not a bad experience. At least, we have a great story to tell!
I haven’t made any poppers, but I certainly am craving some now. PS. Are you sure that’s not a picture of the inside of MY oven?
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OK, I actually just finished eating mine, so my thoughts are fresh!!!
First, I was really psyched about trying these and all geared up for making them on Sunday. Well, work that morning was exhausting and I didn’t have it in me to get the ingredients I lacked. Plus my husband was incredulous that I was going to try them given how awful my heartburn is. (32 weeks pregnant!) Anyway, I had all but decided to bow out — but today, as I shopped in Ingles, I saw those jalapenos and said, “Darn it, I’m going to make them!! That’s what Zantac is for!!!” So, here is how it went…
I’ve cut and de-seeded jalapenos before without problem, so I didn’t use gloves. (I will say that a few minutes after cutting them I could sense a bit of heat on my breath… our pores are so fascinating!!) I was also only doing three peppers. Had I been cutting a bunch of them I probably would have gloved up, just in case!
I stuffed mine with cream cheese and then cut a thin strip of fresh pineapple that was the length of the pepper. I wrapped those babies in bacon and put them in the toaster oven on a drip tray. Based on others’ comments, and since I was only doing a few, I thought the toaster oven would get the bacon nice and crisp. I was right about this!
The verdict: They were OK. I, too, was surprised about the lack of heat from the pepper. There was some nice zest, but nothing to be too concerned about. I am so glad I added the pineapple. The flavor really showed up in mine, but I did use a nice long spear and it was fresh. Honestly, though, I probably won’t make these again. They didn’t do anything spectacular for me. (Though I do think they’d be yummy on a burger, as suggested by PW) SO glad to have tried the recipe. I’ve been curious about this recipe for a long time and was glad for an excuse to make it. I did photograph the event, but my pics are pretty much the same!!!
As for the next recipe choice… we try not to use artificial dye in our house. ESP. not a bottle full!!! BUT, David’s fave cake of all time is red velvet. I had recently asked him if he thought the dye made that big of a difference in the cake. Though I’d imagine it will make a difference, I think I might try this without the dye and see what happens. Will probably halve the recipe and make cupcakes, just in case it is a disaster!!!
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Oh, and btw, the recipe on her site said nothing about bbq sauce. The one there only had three ingredients: the peppers, the cream cheese and the bacon. What else did you all add??
Susan´s last blog ..It’s Christmas time!!
Debbie, thanks for telling the oven story! And thanks for hanging in there for a spicy dish.
Susan, I didn’t realize that the web recipe was so different! The stuffing in the book is actually a mixture of cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese and green onion, and then of course you brush bbq on the tops of the assembled poppers. And, wow…a whole bottle of dye?! I haven’t really read through the recipe yet. I’m thinking the dye wouldn’t really matter that much…just make it red instead of brown. It should make for an interesting twist, nonetheless!
Cream cheese, garlice powder, and lots of fresh ground pepper, put in jalepenos, wrap with bacon, forget all about the toothpick and that’s it.
Put on baking sheet and cook on lowest rack till a noticeable amount of bacon fat is rendered, then put on highest or second to highest rack and broil until the tops get brown and crispy. This seems to get the best consistency from the bacon. Oh, and it’s best NOT to use thick cut or the bacon will never get crispy, just chewy.
These are fantastic in BLT’s. Just pile them on toasted bread with a little mayo, lettuce, and thick cut tomatoes. Yummmmmmy!
OH, and I cooked them at 400 degrees before broiling them.
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ooo. I’m starting assignment number 2 tonight and I have a fun plan. I love sugar so i can’t wait to see how everyone plays with this!
I haven’t tried them yet. But I’ve been wanting to…. Could ya send some my way??!!
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Well, I’ve made these babies 4 times now. I love them. My husband tolerates them. I took them to a party Saturday night, and they were a huge hit.
Like an idiot, I do not use gloves. I’m a seasoned “hot food cook”……..so I passed over the gloves. Didn’t kill me, but what an awakening, every time my fingertips touched my lips!!!!!
I left about 10 seeds inside each jalapeno. Again, I like the jolt! I do use the recipe from the book, so I wallop them with a good does of Famous Dave’s BBQ sauce.
I did cook them at higher heat to crisp up the bacon and I slide the toothpick in, sideways, to hold it all together, but not look tacky with toothpicks hanging out.
Oh man, this is one of my favorite recipes. Anxious to try the Red Velvet Cake! I think REE rocks!!!!! All I can say —– the cookbook is worth it’s weight in gold (and I have no affiliation). Best of luck to you!!!! (wear your gloves)