Jalapeno Poppers

One year I had a plentiful harvest of jalapenos from my garden. I created a jalapeno popper recipe for them.

Corn Tortilla Jalapeno Poppers

12 fresh jalapenos
1/2 block cream cheese
2-3 corn tortillas, cut into 1 inch strips
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Make a slit down the length of the jalapeno. At the stem end of the pepper, make a slit going across the top of the other one, forming a "T". Rummage in your utensil drawer to find a tiny spoon, knife or other instrument to scoop out the seeds and white ribs leaving the remainder of the pepper intact. Be careful to wear rubber gloves or try not to touch the innards of the pepper too much. After all peppers are scooped out, use a knife or spoon to spread cream cheese into the pepper. Put the tortillas in the microwave for 15 seconds to make them more pliable. Wrap the tortilla strips around the peppers and secure with a couple toothpicks.

Warm the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry peppers in small batches until tortillas brown and peppers soften. Drain on paper towels.


This next recipe was shared with me by my mom.

Bacon "Wrapped" Jalapeno Poppers
8 fresh jalapenos (if they aren't Texas-sized, use 12)
1/2 block cream cheese
4 slices uncooked bacon, cut into fourths

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off stems and cut peppers length-wise. Scrape out seeds and ribs using a grapefruit spoon. Spread cream cheese into each half-pepper. Set one piece of bacon a top each pepper. (I found that the bacon cooked evenly this way. You could also wrap the bacon around the peppers.) Place on a baking sheet for 30 minutes until peppers are soft and the bacon is cooked.

Shepherd's Salad

This is a Turkish recipe called Shepherd's salad. It is very refreshing.

2 medium tomatoes, chopped in tiny pieces
1 cucumber peeled, chopped in tiny pieces
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 fresh mild banana pepper or other mild pepper, seeded and chopped
Optional: chopped green onions
Toss veggies together. Drizzle liberally with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges.

Cheesy Beef Enchilada Casserole

I believe that I got this recipe from a package of Market Pantry shredded cheese from Target. It is delicious, filling, and pretty easy. The hardest part for me is to find a can of enchilada sauce that is gluten free. I just found a 28 oz can of Las Palmas Enchilada Sauce at SuperTarget that does not contain any gluten. I used to think that red enchilada sauce was made of mainly tomato sauce, but surprisingly it contains none. It is mostly ground red chilies which gives it a rich peppery flavor. Here's the recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 can (7 oz) diced green chilies
2 cans (10 oz each) red enchilada sauce
1 pkg (10 oz) yellow corn tortillas (12 tortillas), cut in half
3 cups shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef. Add chilies and 1 can sauce. Layer in a 9 x 13 pan as described:

1. Spread 1/2 can of sauce on bottom of pan.
2. Arrange 8 tortilla halves to cover.
3. Add 1/2 of meat mixture.
4. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese.
Repeat layers 2-4.
Finish with a final layer of tortillas and the remaining half can of sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes covered with foil until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese and bake 5 minutes longer until melted. I like to finish it for a minute under the broiler to brown the cheese! Allow to cool a couple minutes before serving. Serve with generous spoonfuls of sour cream.

Tasty Buffalo Chicken Dip and Olive Cheeseball

The first recipe is from one of the most beloved people of my childhood. I remember eating this cheeseball at Mary's house. She then wrote out a copy of the recipe for me when I was a young cook. My 19 month-old daughter loves olives. I made it this week because I thought she'd enjoy it. We enjoyed it with Pepperidge Farms Snack Sticks.

Mary's Cheesy Olive Ball

1 package cream cheese (cut in 6 pieces)
1/3 cup stuffed green olives (well-drained)
1/2 t. seasoned salt
1/8 to 1/4 t. garlic powder

With knife blade (in food processor), pulse to mix, about 60 seconds. It may be necessary to stop and stir mixture once or twice. Turn mixture out onto wax paper; mound into ball; wrap. Freeze 45 minutes then roll in ball. Can be covered in nuts or parsley.

This Franks Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe is great for those that love hot sauce. One time I was craving it, and had neither blue cheese dressing or blue cheese crumbles. I substituted ranch dressing, and it was still delicious. My mom made this once and substituted a hotter sauce. Because of the creamy ingredients that mellow the sauce, it still wasn't too spicy.

Franks Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 pkg. 8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cans 9.75 oz chicken breast, drained
1/2 cup Red Hot sauce
1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
Assorted veggies and crackers

Stir cream cheese until smooth. Stir in other ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 4 cups.

Kenyan Baked Fish

This recipe was in the local paper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I made it with cod. It was delicious and fresh-tasting! I love buying just one jalapeno pepper in the grocery store. It often costs around 9 cents because it weighs so little! The peppers don't have much heat after the seeds and white ribs are removed.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp seeded and finely chopped jalapeno pepper
16 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 T cider vinegar
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
4 (1-inch-thick) cod fillets or halibut steaks (2 lb total)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. To prepare the sauce, in a skillet, heat the oil over high heat until hot but not smoking; saute the onion, garlic, and jalapeno pepper until the onion is transparent. Stir in the tomatoes, vinegar, cumin, coriander and salt. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Place the fish in an ungreased oblong baking pan (I just baked mine in the large cast iron skillet that I sauteed the vegetables in). Spoon the sauce over the fish. Bake, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 286 calories, 9 grams fat, 9 grams carbohydrates, 42 grams protein, 98 milligrams cholesterol, 668 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber, 28 percent of calories from fat

Baked Potato Slices

2-3 large Russet potatoes
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Garlic Powder

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Scrub potatoes. Slice into 1/4 inch disks. In a bowl, toss potato slices with olive oil. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and garlic powder. Toss until coated. On a baking sheet lined with foil, spread potatoes. Bake 20 minutes or until golden and tender, turning halfway through.

Mushroom Chicken with Green Beans

This was inspired by a recipe title I saw on allrecipes.com. I didn't even look at the recipe, but I put this together with things I had in the house.

2 large or 3-4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can Progesso Mushroom Soup
1 bag frozen green beans
extra virgin olive oil

Cut the breasts into 2 inch pieces. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add chicken breast pieces and cook 1-2 minutes on each side until browned. Reduce heat to medium and add soup. Stir gently. When soup bubbles, reduce to low heat and simmer. While this is simmering, cook green beans according to package directions. Allow chicken to simmer for 45 minutes until very tender. Stir in green beans. Season with salt and pepper. For more flavorful and tender beans, add them after chicken has simmered 30 minutes allow to cook with chicken for last 15 minutes.