I’ve been growing chillies for over 25 years, in fact the first edible crop of anything I grew was the majestic habanero, a variety that I still grown to this day. According to a recent google search there are 3000 to 4000 varieties of chilli in the world and I’ve grown at least 12 of them (2988-3988 to go), and despite popular opinion in some parts of the world, all chillies are not created equal.
Even if you only know a little about chillies, you will probably have heard of the Scoville scale that measures the heat of the pepper family, based on the concentration of “capsaicinoids”, from the capsicum/bell pepper with a rating of zero to something called “Pepper X” (another recent Google search) with a rating of 2,693,000 (I don’t know who the psycho is who keeps inventing hotter chillies, but just stop). Before this turns into a science lesson, what I am getting at is that I have often only concentrated my chilli growing on something that was going to give my food a good kick (but not kill me, Mr. Psycho Pepper X!) and therefore with a Scoville rating of 2500-10,000 I’ve stayed away from the famous Jalapeño.
That was until I discovered the Jalapeño Popper, a delicious combination of veg, and dairy and sometimes, meat and sometimes crumbed and deep fried. Some Jalapeños pack more of a punch than others, so that can add a modicum of amusement to the evening. This is just one variation which is easy to make, doesn’t require the deep fryer and contains the almighty pig (also it’s gluten free).
Ingredients
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 200℃/400℉ fan bake
- Slice the Jalapeños in two lengthwise and scape out the seeds and pith and discard (or dry the seeds and plant again next spring)
- Chop white and green parts of the spring onions finely and mince the garlic
- Mix the cream cheese, garlic, spring onions, pepper and salt
- Spoon the mixture into each Jalapeño half and wrap bacon on the diagonal, stretching it to cover as much of the filling as possible.
- Place on a rack over a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes followed by 3 minutes under the grill (keeping an eye on them)
- Serve as an appetiser, side dish or finger food.
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