Baked Stuffed Jalapeños

Are you a risk taker? I think one has to be a bit adventurous to eat jalapeños. You never know if biting into one is going to yield that wonderful flavor and kick that is the basis for so much of Southwestern food, or if that one little bite will pack such a fiery punch that you'll be running around the room mouth agape and tears in your eyes, begging for something to cool it all down.

If you find that the pepper you've bit into is just too hot for your tongue, cool it off with sour cream, milk, or cream cheese. That's the trick, and the reason why cheese is so often paired with hot chiles. There's something in the milk protein that lessens the impact of the capsaicin (the molecules that give chilies their heat). Which is one very good reason why stuffed jalapeños are stuffed with cheese, among other things.

The other good reason why stuffed jalapeños are filled with cheese is they taste good that way! Hank and I decided to experiment with stuffed jalapeños this week. We stuffed them with cheddar, with jack, with pepper jack, with cream cheese, with bacon mixed with lots of other things, and we ended up with two favorites. One is stuffed with a cream cheese filling with onions, cilantro, cumin and a little bit of jack cheese. The other is similar but has more jack cheese, and bacon instead of the cream cheese. But you can really do whatever you want here. Mix it up. Try adding some shrimp, or barbecue sauce. Use queso fresco instead of the cream cheese. With the following recipes, I loved the way the cream cheese enveloped the jalapeños in my mouth. Hank likes the bacon and jack (well he would like the bacon version, no duh.)

Do you have a favorite stuffing for stuffed jalapeños? We would love to hear about it.

Baked Stuffed Jalapeños Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes

When working with jalapeños, it helps to wear disposable gloves. If you don't have gloves, coat your hands with some oil before working with the peppers, then once you are done, wash your hands thoroughly with warm soapy water. Do not touch your eyes for several hours after handling the peppers.

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INGREDIENTS

Cream Cheese Filling Version

• 12 jalapeño peppers*
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 cup cream cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
• 2 ounces jack cheese, cut into 2 1/2-inch long batons

Bacon and Jack Cheese Filling Version

• 12 jalapeño peppers*
• 1/4 cup chopped cooked bacon
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/2 cup shredded jack cheese, plus another 2 ounces of jack cheese cut into 2 1/2-inch long batons
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

* When buying jalapeños for this recipe, if you want mild peppers, look for peppers with smooth skins. Striations tend to indicate that the pepper has been stressed while growing, and that can mean a hotter pepper.

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 375°.

2 You can either slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise or you can slice off the top one-third (lengthwise) of each jalapeño to make a boat shape out of each pepper. The halved jalapeños will go further (twice as many stuffed peppers), but you can put more filling into the boat-shaped peppers. Your choice. If you choose to make the boats, you can mince the tops and add them to the filling if you want some extra heat, or save them for another recipe. Scrape out all the seeds and ribs from each jalapeño with a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works great).

3 Mix together all the filling ingredients except the jack cheese batons.

4 Pack the filling into the peppers and nestle a baton of jack cheese onto the filling of each one. Arrange the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned, and the peppers are cooked.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: Makes 12-24 servings (depending on how you've cut the jalapeños).

7 Layer Bean Dip

Refried beans should not be eaten cold.

There, I've said it. I don't usually put my foot down about food preferences, but cold refried beans are about as appealing as a cold hamburger. This is why I make 7-layer dip starting with a layer of hot refried beans. Shredded cheese is added directly to the top of the beans so it melts from the heat of the beans. Then the layers of tomato, avocado, olives, and chilies, onions (mostly room temp) are added. The only cold part of the dip is the topping of sour cream (or crema Mexicana). Served this way and the taste delightfully mimics tostadas or homemade nachos, but in an easy-to-serve dip form.

By the way, depending on what you have on hand, your 7-layer dip may have 8 or 9 layers, or 6. The basics are refried beans, grated cheese, avocados (or guacamole), chilies (or salsa), sour cream, and olives. Improvise with more or fewer toppings to your own taste.

7 Layer Bean Dip Recipe

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of refried beans, either from one 15-ounce can or homemade
• 1 teaspoon (or more) of bacon fat (or 1 strip of bacon, cooked and minced) optional
• 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder, Tabasco chipotle sauce, or adobo sauce, more to taste (or plain chili powder to taste)
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green Anaheim chiles (canned) OR a Tbsp of chopped pickled jalapenos (more to taste)
• 1 avocado, peeled and chopped
• 1 hot house tomato, cut in half horizontally, seeds and juice gently squeezed out and discarded, chopped
• 1/3 cup of sour cream, or if you can get it Crema Mexicana (Mexican sour cream)
• 1/2 small can of sliced ripe black olives

METHOD

1 Heat the refried beans in a medium sauté pan or cast iron skillet. Stir in enough water to get a creamy, easily dip-able consistency, about 1/4 of a cup. The taste of refried beans is greatly enhanced by bacon fat; we'll add a teaspoon to canned beans or a tablespoon or more to taste if we are making the beans from scratch. If you don't have bacon fat, you can cook up a strip of bacon, chop it up fine and add that to the beans. If you are trying to avoid pork, note that most canned refried beans are made with added lard, so check the ingredients. You can use olive oil instead, to help the consistency of the beans.

Mix in the chipotle chili powder (or Tabasco, or adobo, or regular chili powder) and cumin to taste. Note that the avocados and the sour cream will cool down the spiciness of the beans considerably, so you can afford to be a bit more spicy than you might think. Stir in salt to taste, depending on how salted your refried beans are to begin with, and depending on how salty the tortilla chips are that you are serving with the dip.

2 Once the beans are hot and bubbly, spread them over the bottom of a warmed serving dish. Immediately add the shredded cheese so that the heat from the beans helps melt the cheese. (The cheese doesn't need to be completely melted, but even if it is just a little, it will help the dip stay on the chip.)

3 Layer on the chopped green chilies, chopped avocado, chopped tomato. Spoon on the sour cream (or crema Mexicana, crema fresca, or even cream fraiche). Top with sliced green onions and olives.

Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Yield: Serves 8.

Grilled Oysters

One of my favorite ways to eat oysters (especially those strongly flavored big ones) is grilled. Guest author Jaden shares a personal lesson from the Shuckmeister on how to do it. Enjoy! ~Elise

Even though I live all the way on the other side of the country, I think I see Elise more often than I see some of my neighbors. Just this year alone, we've been to Seattle, Chicago, Bahamas and twice to San Francisco! Since I talk in my sleep and Elise sings in her sleep, we make excellent traveling companions. I just feel sorry for any hotel guests who share adjoining walls with us!

On our last trip to San Francisco, we participated in the Foodbuzz Festival. The first night was sort of like a street food party, where the best of the best San Francisco street food carts came and camped out right in front of the Ferry Building. About 200 hungry hungry hippos (i.e. food bloggers) came to enjoy the pulled pork sandwiches, thin-crusted pizzas, local beers and oysters. Oh oysters galore! Hog Island Oyster Company brought hundreds of Kumamoto Oysters and Small Sweetwater Oysters! Their "shuckmeister" shucked and served...Elise and I slurped and swooned.

We got to talking with the Shuckmeister (forgot his name) about grilled oysters, a popular way to enjoy oysters in the SF Bay Area, especially in Tomales Bay.

There are several ways you can make their grilled oysters - it all depends on your ability to shuck a raw oyster (Shuckmeister made it look really easy...but it takes a ton of practice) and how big your oysters are. I'll give you all of the options!

Grilled Oysters Recipe

I know for sure that Hog Island doesn't put their oysters on a bed of rice! But the rice helps steady the oysters and prevents the flavorful sauce and juices from spilling. Of course, I only used rice because I didn't have any rock salt in the house. You can use either, or if you're able to balance the oysters on the grill grates, go for it!

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INGREDIENTS

Makes 16 oysters

• 16 whole live oysters
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (or substitute with dashes of Tabasco)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon finely minced parsley

METHOD

Heat a small sauce pan over medium-low heat. When hot, add the olive oil and the butter. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the lemon juice, chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper and parsley. Turn off heat.

How to grill oysters
If you can find large, fat oysters, you can place the oysters directly on the grill grates. It's best to wear long, sturdy BBQ gloves so you can handle the oysters by hand instead of using tongs, spoons or spatula. However, if the oysters are small and flat, you'll run the risk of spilling its valuable, flavorful juices as well as the garlic-butter sauce. You can do what I've done, which is to place the oysters on a bed of rock salt or rice in a small pan -- and then placing the entire pan inside the grill or under a broiler. This steadies the oysters and prevents them from wobbling.

If you are a shuckmeister
Shuck the oysters, spoon a little sauce in each oyster. Place oysters on a very hot, preheated grill, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the edges of oysters curl slightly.

If you can't shuck
Place the oysters, cup side up on a very hot, preheated grill, cover and cook for 1 minute. The oysters should now be slightly open. Quickly remove the oysters. Hold an oyster with an oven mitt and use a shucking knife (or a clean screwdriver if you don't have one) to pry open the oyster. It should easily open. Spoon sauce into each oyster and return oysters to the grill. Cover and grill 4-5 minutes.

Angels on Horseback

Have you ever heard of angels on horseback? Hank Shaw shares his recipe for this classic appetizer. ~Elise

I first encountered this dish when I moved to Long Island in the late 1980s. It was at a wedding I attended with my girlfriend DeDee, and it was one of those classic Long Island weddings, with all the glass clinking to make the couple kiss at awkward moments, a thicket of big hair, and so much Billy Joel music I had to listen to the Dead Kennedys for a week afterward to recover. I had a blast, but what I remembered most was this odd appetizer of an oyster, wrapped in bacon and squirted with lemon juice. I asked the waiter what it was called and he said, “It’s an angel on horseback,” as if I was a moron for not knowing.

I later learned that angels on horseback – also done with scallops and sometimes called “devils on horseback” – was a de rigeur Long Island party food at the time. I can tell you that even now it remains an awesomely tasty dish: Briny, minerally oysters just barely cooked, surrounded by smoky bacon and lightened with the zing of fresh lemon juice; I later switched to lime juice, because I like it even better.

Make a lot of these, especially if you can find small oysters, like the Olympias of Washington state. Basically you want oysters of a size that you’d eat raw – this is supposed to be a one-bite dish, after all. I’ve used pre-shucked oysters for this many times, too, so just look for the small ones.

I’ve never seen a crowd eat fewer than 3 per person of these, and 4 per person is pretty safe. Personally, I’ve put away a baker’s dozen before, which, I think, either makes me a bona fide angel… or just a glutton.

Angels on Horseback Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes

Canned shucked oysters can be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and work well in this recipe.

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INGREDIENTS

• 16-32 small oysters (or scallops), or larger ones cut in half, shucked
• 8-16 slices of thin-cut bacon
• 16-32 wooden toothpicks
• 3-4 limes or lemons

METHOD

1 Working in batches if necessary, cook the bacon slices on medium low heat in a large frying pan, until only about halfway cooked, but not crispy. You need to pre-cook the bacon a bit or else when you cook them with the oysters the oysters will be overcooked by the time the bacon is crispy. Set the bacon aside to cool.

2 Get a grill or broiler good and hot while you wrap the oysters.

3 To make an angel on horseback, you wrap 1/2 a piece of bacon around the small oyster and secure it with the toothpick. Overlap the edges of the bacon by about an inch if you can.

4 Grill or broil over high heat to cook the oyster and crisp the bacon, about 5-6 minutes on the first side, another 2-4 once you turn them over. You will need to turn them once or twice to get a good crispiness on all sides.

5 As soon as they come off the heat, squirt with the lemon or lime juice and serve hot.

Yield: Serves 4.

Colcannon Cakes

Have you ever made colcannon? It's a traditional Irish mashed potato dish with lots of greens. If there's a heaven for kale, it's this, mixed in with mashed potatoes and butter. Colcannon cakes, sort of an Irish version of potato latkes, are what you make with leftover colcannon. The only thing is, colcannon is so good, who has leftovers? So, you may just have to make a new batch to make these cakes. Or just make twice as much colcannon as you think you might need, just so you have enough to make these cakes. Oh my these are good. We liked them with a little fresh lemon juice squeezed on top. I had one with a runny egg for breakfast. Yum!

Colcannon Cakes Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 50 minutes

You can also add some chopped fresh parsley to the colcannon mix. Here's a fun idea for breakfast, serve the colcannon cakes with a poached egg on top!

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INGREDIENTS

Colcannon:

• 2 1/2 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
• Salt
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 lightly packed cups of chopped chard, kale, spinach, or cabbage
• 1/2 cup of green onion greens, chopped
• 1 cup milk or cream

Colcannon cakes:

• About 3 cups of colcannon
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 4 Tbsp butter or vegetable oil
• Lemon for garnish

METHOD

1 Make the colcannon first (see our colcannon recipe.) Put potatoes in a pot, cover with cold, well salted water by an inch, bring to a boil, and cook until fork tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and remove them from the pot. Melt the butter in the still warm pot, add the chopped greens, cook for 3-4 minutes until wilted, then add the green onions and cook for another minute. Add the potatoes, milk or cream to the pot, mash until everything is well mixed.

2 Mix the egg, flour and salt in with the colcannon. You may want to chill the mixture for 15 minutes or longer to make it easier to shape the patties. Form into little cakes of whatever size you want, but make them flat so they will cook through without burning. If the mixture is too wet, add more flour until the mixture is easy to shape.

3 Heat the butter or vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, place the formed patties in the pan so they are not touching. Lower the heat to medium and gently fry until golden, abou 3-4 minutes. Turn and cook the other side. Let the cakes rest on a paper towel while you cook the others. Serve with slices of lemon.

Yield: Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.