Bacon, will you marry me?

Warning: if you're not a fan of bacon, turn away NOW.  The rest of you may need to step back so you don't eat your screen.  This week's Free Recipe Friday not only involves bacon, it wraps it's lovely self around a nice little chicken breast that's been stuffed with cream cheese and diced jalapenos.  Let me tell ya, not much conversation took place when we ate these little jewels.  We just savored every bite and oohed and ahhed about it's goodness.

These little stuffed chickens can be grilled or baked.  We baked.  And then we broiled a bit to get the bacon to our liking.  You can also adjust the hotness of this recipe.  The original recipe said to stuff a jalapeno with cream cheese, then wrap the chicken around it, and finish up by wrapping it in bacon.  The females in this house decided we didn't want to deal with that much jalapeno (wimps) so I just mixed some diced jalapeno into the cream cheese before stuffing into the chicken breasts.  Make sense!?  Good.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:
4 chicken breasts - boneless, skinless
1/2 lb. bacon - sliced
1, 8 oz. pkg cream cheese - softened
appx. 1 tablespoon diced jalapenos
(we used the pickled kind in a jar)
a smidgen of salt and pepper


WHAT TO DO:
Preheat oven to 375 or prepare your grill as desired.

Prepare the cream cheese filling by mixing your diced
jalapenos and a pinch of salt and pepper into
the softened cream cheese.  Mix well.
On a cutting board or inside a gallon size
freezer bag, pound out your chicken a bit.
You can use the flat side of an actual meat
tenderizer or a large rolling pin.
Flatten out the chicken breasts a bit -
this will make the filling and wrapping
process a bit easier.
Do as I say, not as I do.
Because I skipped this step,
it made the wrap process a bit like
trying to thread a needle with your eyes closed.

Well, not actually that hard.  But close.
Despite my prep failure,
they still turned out great.
I really don't think you can mess these up.
We over stuffed ours, they weren't wrapped well,
cream cheese oozed out all in the pan,
and they were fantastic!
But if you are grilling, you may lose
a bit of that stuffed goodness
if you do not seal and wrap
your little chickies up tightly.

Once your chicken is pounded out a bit,
put about 1-2 tablespoons of
cream cheese mixture in the middle of
each chicken breast.
Fold the chicken in half to conceal
the filling.  Grab one slice of
bacon and begin to wrap around the chicken.
Have fun with this.  It's exciting.
We didn't bother using a toothpick
or string - just wrap the bacon
tightly and as it cooks it will shrink up
and hold everything together even better.

After filling and wrapping up the chicken,
sprinkle a little black pepper on each and
place in a casserole dish sprayed
with non-stick spray and bake for about 30 min.

If you are grilling, cook per
manufacturers instructions.

Once cooked to your liking, remove
and let rest for about 10 minutes
or you will be scalded for life.

Serve alongside a small baked potato
and how about some sauteed lemon broccoli?!?
Yes, please!

I hope you ENJOY!

Free Recipe Friday...it's Peppuh Time!

Superbowl Weekend + Stuffed Peppers = Ooooh yea!!!

These may look like ordinary stuffed peppers
that you've had at many a gathering,

but these are not made the 'standard' way around here.

The recipe to this particular way of stuffing peppers
is a bit of a sentimental one.
(Que the violins)

Long, long ago there was a sweet little family we grew to know and love

as a result of my husband being involved with

a prison ministry that his sister and her husband headed up.
(whew...longest sentence ever)

Those leading this ministry would gather often for prayer...and food.

Husbands, wives, tons of kids running around...did I mention lots of kids?!?

And some of the most memorable prayer times I have ever experienced.

As part of that ministry we got to know a little hispanic family.

A hispanic family that made the most awesome stuffed peppers EVER.

The pepper angel's name was Cynthia.
The wife and mother of this little family and she

made these peppers before anyone in the south

knew what stuffed peppers were.

Like I said, it was a long time ago.... more than 15 years.

After first tasting and then begging
for her to bring these peppers to every gathering,

she finally shared this secret recipe.

Here is all you will need:

1 - 12 oz pkg sliced bacon
1 1/2 - 8 oz pkgs cream cheese
1 - 26 oz can whole pickled jalapenos

First things first...set out your cream cheese to soften a bit.

Next.........the peppers

You must buy whole pickled jalapenos in a can.

Around here, there are only a couple of brands available- either is fine.

So...open the can and go find a bandana to wrap around your face...

because unless you are brave....

(not that these peppers are poisonous gas),

there is something about standing over a bowl full of peppers

slicing and seeding about 15 of them

that just seems to make me have a coughing fit!

Also, if your hands are sensitive, you should wear some gloves.

I've had my fingers burn for hours afterward sometimes

and no matter how much you wash up,

if you touch your eye at any point during the rest of the day,

you will be reminded you should have worn gloves!

Okay, so back to the peppers....

these peppers need to be drained

(feel free to save the carrots inside to chomp on if yours has those).

Slice each pepper in half lengthwise.

Do this over the sink...they are lots of juices inside the peppers.

Using your fingers (the peppers are pretty soft),

grab the seeds/stem out and quickly rinse the pepper.

I do all of this under cool running water.

Lay the seeded, rinsed pepper on some paper towels to dry a bit.

Now it's time to get your hands really dirty!

You need to grab a wad of cream cheese and smush it into each pepper.
There's no need to get all fancy and try to
spread the cream cheese in with a knife or spoon...
the peppers are a bit too fragile for that.
Your hands work best.

I kind of grab a handful of cream cheese, make a bit of a snake

and just smush or lay that into the pepper.

Now, it's time for a lovely bacon wrap! Mmm.
Cut your bacon slices in half.
Wrap each pepper individually with one half strip of bacon.
No toothpicks required.
Just stretch the bacon a bit when wrapping around the pepper
and as the bacon cooks and shrinks,
it will hang on to the pepper all by itself.
Lay these heavenly treats on a Pam sprayed wire rack
that's been placed in a baking pan!

Bake uncovered in preheated 375-400 degree oven, for appx 45 min to 1 hour.
You will begin to smell the amazing aroma when they are close to doneness.
Cook until your level of bacon crispness is achieved.

One large can of peppers, 1 1/2 pkgs cream cheese and 1 lb of bacon
made us about 30 stuffed peppers.

Please use canned peppers instead of fresh ones for this recipe.

It is so nice to bite into a soft, tangy pepper wrapped with crunchy bacon....

NOT a crunchy, half-cooked jalapeno!
I don't mean to step on any southern toes here, just try it.
We are just not big fans of raw crunchy peppers.

My husband warned me that I might lose my 'Texas card'

if I dis the crunchy pepper thing too much, so...I will leave it at that.

If you like your peppers half-cooked and crunchy,

then, crunch away....but if you want to be adventurous,

you might just want/need to try these!

Yes, please....end of story.
The End