Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken is the dinner that dreams are made of. Creamy and cheesy stuffed jalapenos are stuffed into juicy chicken breasts and then lovingly wrapped in salty bacon. Slow roasted for maximum flavor and basted with homemade BBQ sauce, this is a jalapeno popper like you’ve never had it before.

Start with a classic popper filling, softened cream cheese, medium cheddar cheese, and then add a twist with Sweet BBQ Rub. This adds a little smokiness and sweetness to the inside of the popper itself. Make sure your jalapenos are thoroughly cleaned of seeds and ribs to remove that excess spiciness. I like to split my jalapenos in half and scrape the seeds before stuffing with the filling and then pressing them back together.

Once your poppers are assembled, it’s time to get to the next step! Use a sharp knife to split your chicken breasts. I press down with one hand on top of the breasts and use the other hand with the knife parallel to the cutting board to slowly slice through the breast. Make sure you don’t cut all the way through, leave one side of the breast completely in tact so you can easily open and close the chicken.

Set the stuffed popper in the middle of the opened breast and then fold the top flap of the chicken over to envelop the popper completely. Next up, it’s time to wrap in bacon! I like to use a regular thickness of bacon on this chicken so the fat has time to render and crisp by the time to chicken is done cooking.

When the internal temperature of the jalapeno popper stuffed chicken reaches 150 degrees F, I like to baste with BBQ sauce.  If you don’t want to take the time to make homemade sauce, you can always use your favorite store bought brand. Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. I like to use an instant read thermometer.

ADAPTATIONS

I make my jalapeno popper stuffed chicken in my smoker, but if you don’t have one you can absolutely use an oven or a regular gas or charcoal grill. All you have to do is follow the same time and temperature guidelines in the written recipe below. In your oven, make sure the bacon fat has somewhere to go. I recommend cooking on a roasting rack above a baking sheet so the fat can drip down and not saturate the bottom of your chicken.

If you’re cooking these in a regular grill, the key is cooking the chicken on indirect heat. Turn on half of your burners and then cook the chicken on the half where the burners are off. The radiant heat will cook them without having do deal with the flare ups and grease fires from the bacon fat dripping down onto your coals or open flames.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 large jalapenos
• 4 oz cream cheese softened
• 4 oz medium cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 Tablespoon No Sugar Added BBQ Rub
• 12 pieces bacon
• 2 Tablespoons No Sugar Added BBQ Rub 
• 1/2 cup No Sugar Added BBQ sauce 

Instructions

Preheat your oven/grill/smoker to 250 F for indirect heat with mild wood like apple or hickory.

Prepare your poppers by slicing the tops off of the jalapenos, cutting them in half, and scraping out the ribs and seeds inside of the poppers.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and the 1 Tablespoon of sweet rub. Use the back of the spoon to press the filling mixture into each half of the cleaned out peppers and then press the pepper halves back together.

On a large cutting board, slice the chicken breasts open, without slicing all of the way through the breasts. Set one filled popper inside of each chicken breast and fold them closed.

Wrap each chicken breast with about 3 slices of bacon. Secure the bacon ends with toothpicks, if necessary. Season the stuffed chicken on all sides with more of the sweet rub.

Place the chicken breasts on the oven/grill/smoker, close the lid and cook until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F. This process usually takes an hour and a half. Baste the chicken liberally with BBQ sauce, close the door, and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 161 degrees F.
Remove the chicken to a cutting board or serving platter and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing/serving. Enjoy!!
Cook's Notes:Use a spoon to scrape the veins and seeds out of the jalapenos.If you have sensitive hands, I recommend powder free medical examination gloves
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES if you prep peppers with bare hands
I prefer thin bacon for the wrapper.  The thick stuff takes too long to cook.

Football Snacks!!

Playoffs, Bowl Games and Ultimately the Superbowl are going to have more than a few of us doing the "couch potato slump" in front of our TVs for the next several weeks.

No need to succumb to the hideous snacks and pizza that will no doubt make the rounds.  Below I'm posting a few simple, delicious and LOW CARB snacks that you can have around to impress your friends AND maintain your healthy (well reasonably healthy) lifestyle.  And all that walking around the kitchen while you make these counts as CARDIO!

Stuffed Jalapenos

Healthy Jalapeno Poppers - Not something most of us can wrap our heads around, but here is a version that lights up your tastebuds as well as your imagination:

Ingredients:
1 lb jalapenos halved and seeded
1 lb sausage browned (the cheap tube, need the grease)
8 oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
6-8 oz grated Parmesan

Instructions:
Cook sausage into crumbles and drain off about 3/4 of the grease
Mix the sausage and cheeses together,
Once the cheese melts stuff the jalapeno halves
Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes


Cook's Notes:
Good quality, name brand sausage is too lean. Get the cheap stuff. Sorry, but turkey sausage is too lean too.
WEAR GLOVES when dealing with chillies. You can't just wash the capsacin off your hands. Everything you touch for days will burn - and I mean EVERYTHING!!!
Optional: Buy some of that thin cheap pre-packaged bacon and wrap each in a 1/2 slice - cook until bacon crisps - because BACON!
I HIGHLY recommend doubling, tripling or even QUADRUPLING this recipe.
Make it dinner!  Wrap the stuffed jalapenos in prosciutto, wrap that in chicken breast cutlets and wrap THAT in bacon!! - Be still my heart!


Queso Covered Bacon "Chip" Nachos

Who doesn't a huge pile of tortilla chips smothered in melted cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa? Well it loves you too! It'll gladly hang around your body for YEARS after you've forgotten who won the game that day. BUT... If you eliminate those chips and their carbs and you've got a fighting chance! MAKE BACON CHIPS!!

I'll not tell you how to stack your nachos, but I'll gladly teach you the secret of making bacon chips - which are perfect for snacking ANY time.

Ingredients:
12 strips of thin presliced grocery store bacon

Instructions:
 Preheat oven to 400 F.
 On a baking sheet covered in foil (but don’t grease it or bacon won’t crisp!) lay six strips of bacon next to each other vertically. 
 Weave the remaining strip of bacon horizontally between the vertical strips, creating a “lattice” pattern. 
 Bake bacon lattice for 10 minutes.

During this time assemble all the magnificent topping you will use to smother these heavenly chips

 Remove bacon from oven. Allow to cool
 Use scissors to cut bacon lattice into six “chips” and return to oven for additional five to seven minutes, or until crispy.

Transfer "chips" to plates and top each with your most decadent nacho fixin's.  

Cook's Notes:
Each chip will be 3 strips of bacon wide and 2 high, so you're going to want to make a gazillion of them for a real football party - Don't be shy!
These are also perfect for "Breakfast Nachos" - layered with scrambled eggs, qheso, some guacamole, etc...

Bacon Cheesecake Cups

Rich, smooth, savory, spicy, cheesy filling...  WRAPPED IN BACON!!

Ingredients:
13 slices thick cut bacon
1 lb cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp minced dried onion
1 tbsp minced jalapeno 

Instructions:
Place slices of bacon on a cookie sheet. 
Place into a cold oven. 
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. 
Cook bacon for about 20 minutes. or until it is cooked but not crisp. 
Remove from oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes. 
Wrap one strip around the bottom inside edges of each of 12 standard muffin cups. 
Crumble the remaining strip. 
Place a drop or two of the bacon grease in the base of each muffin cup.

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to combine cream cheese, eggs, onion and seasoning. 
Divide the batter among the muffin cups, taking care to stay inside the bacon ring. 
Bake for 20 minutes. 
The cheesecake will puff, but fall after the cups cool. 

Garnish with crumbled bacon.

Awesome Popper Cookies

These were originally going to be Jalapeno Poppers Cookies but after the first batch my imagination went wild and I thought of all kinds of things that would be AWESOME added instead of chopped jalapenos - which are pretty awesome in and of themselves!

This makes a tender, pillowy, savory cookie that makes a powerful flavor delivery mechanism for whatever add-ins you choose to combine in the mix.  AWESOME is the acceptable term for their description.

(Two batches down and I haven't gotten a picture yet!!! - They're THAT GOOD!!!)

Base Ingredients

One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup Parmesan, grated (yes, even the stuff in the green can will work)
1 cup shredded 4 cheese blend (or your choice of shredded cheeses)

1 large egg, beaten

Add Ins:  Use any (or any combination) of these add-ins to make your AWESOME Poppers Cookies

4 tablespoons seeded and chopped jalapeno peppers 
1 tablespoon Dry Hidden Valley Ranch mix
4 tablespoonsf crisp fried bacon or pancetta, chopped
4 tablespoons finely diced ham or prosciutto
4 tablespoons minced Italian or breakfast sausage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
4 tablespoons chopped smoked salmon
4 tablespoons chopped salad olives

Coverings: Use any (or any combination) of these options to cover the outside your AWESOME Poppers Cookies

almond meal
sesame seeds (black and/or white)
poppy seeds
chia seeds
hemp seeds

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the softened cream cheese, Parmesan, shredded cheese and egg to form the base. 
Incorporate your add-in(s) into the base.
Shape into balls using about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of base for each. Make them about the size of the last joint of your thumb.
Roll the balls in one or more of your Coverings. 
Place on a foil, parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and flatten slightly.
Bake in the center of your oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. 

Serve at room temperature

Cooks Notes: If you don't want to wait for your cream cheese to soften, pop it (unwrapped) into the microwave for 30 seconds.
The amounts stated for the add-ins are suggestions.  Adjust to your own taste.
Use a combination of peppers depending on your personal heat tolerance (serranos or even habaneros - if you dare) - or none at all! 
Split the base among several different add-ins for a tasting party!