Jalapeño Popper Soup

 

We had our first frost earlier this month, coincidentally on the exact same day that we had our first frost last year. It also marked my day of switching from the air conditioning to heating. I have a rule around here that it must get to 59° in the house before I turn on the heat. That morning, it did. Such days call for something warm and spicy, and this soup seemed just the ticket.Jalapeño Popper Soup

1 12-oz. pkg. bacon, chopped

4 Melissa’s pickled jalapeños, seeded and diced*

½ c. chopped onion

2 t. Melissa’s minced garlic

½ c. flour

6 c. chicken stock

1 T. pickled jalapeño juice    

1½ c. whole milk

1½ c. heavy cream

1 1.5 lb. pkg. Melissa’s Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, cut into 1” dice

8 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into pieces

2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place bacon into a medium stockpot and cook over medium-high heat until crisp. Add jalapeños and onions, and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.

Sprinkle the flour over all, and stir to incorporate. Continue to cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock, milk, and cream.

Add potatoes and bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the pot from the heat and add the cream cheese and shredded cheddar, stirring until the cheeses are melted and combined.

Salt, pepper, or Slap Ya Mama, to taste; garnish as desired. 

*If you want a bit more heat, leave the seeds in. I ended up removing the seeds from three, and leaving the seeds in the fourth, and I thought that was the perfect combination.

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Jalapeño Pimiento Cheese

 

There is something about summer that makes me want to stock the refrigerator with all sorts of dips and spreads in order to make snacking and sandwich making quick and easy. As you are well aware, if you have read this blog for any length of time, I am a bit of a pimiento cheese fan, am constantly trying new recipes, and tweaking existing ones. It occurred to me this morning when I was chopping vegetables for crudités that I had yet to make pimiento cheese with jalapeño added, so I did just that. This is spicy and delicious, so easy to gobble right up.Jalapeño Pimiento Cheese

2 c. freshly grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

4 oz. cream cheese, cut into 1” cubes, room temperature

4 oz. Melissa’s fire roasted red peppers, chopped

3 T. Duke’s mayonnaise

¼ t. garlic powder

¼ t. onion powder

¼ t. Slap Ya Mama 

1 Melissa’s pickled jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed, minced

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 Place all ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, and beat at medium speed with a handheld mixer until combined. Turn into a lidded container, and refrigerate for at least eight hours or overnight in order to allow flavors to meld. Keeps refrigerated for 7-10 days.

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Mexican Cheese Garlic Bread

 

 

I have been trying a variety of new soup recipes to put in the freezer for the cold months ahead. Generally, when I make anything spicy I serve it with cornbread. Today I decided that I was going to try something different. I wanted cheese garlic bread, but I wanted it to be Mexican at the same time, so I combined the two, and I can’t stop eating it! This version is mild. If you want more heat, double or even triple the amount of jalapeño. It is so good! Serve it with chili, tortilla soup, or my Mexican Pinto Bean Soup, the recipe of which will be posted next week.

Mexican Cheese Garlic Bread

 1 bulb garlic

1 T. olive oil

Pinch of kosher salt

½ c. butter, room temperature

1 T. minced Melissa’s pickled jalapeño

½ c. grated Parmesan

Pinch Mexican oregano

Pinch kosher salt

Few gratings freshly ground black pepper

1 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese

One loaf Italian bread

 Preheat oven to 400° F.

 Pace garlic bulb in the center of a square of foil. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and wrap tightly in the foil; roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool while you make the cheese mixture.

 Place the softened butter in a medium bowl. Add jalapeño, Parmesan, oregano, salt, and pepper. Beat together until combined. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the bulb into the butter mixture, and beat once more to combine.

 Slice bread on the diagonal into 1/2” - 1” thick slices. Slather on a generous amount of the mixture and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are golden and the cheese has melted.

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Layered Taco Casserole

 

I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of Mexican food. That’s not to say that this layered casserole is Mexican, but it’s what we have Americans consider to be Mexican, so I’m just going to go with that. The beauty of a casserole is that you can change it up to suit your tastes in any way that you like. If there are ingredients that you would like to add, feel free to do so. Had I had a small can of green chilies on hand, I would have stirred them into the refried beans. Instead, I added some sliced jalapeños to the beef along with the corn. This is one of those dishes that is pure comfort. It makes a decent amount, particularly if there are just one or two of you, but it freezes beautifully. I filled individual au gratin dishes with single servings, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and put them into the freezer in Ziploc freezer bags so that I can enjoy them at some point in the future…probably with a margarita.

Layered Taco Casserole

 Adapted from aboutamom.com

1 lb. ground beef
1 1.25-oz. pkg. taco seasoning

1 c. frozen corn

¼ - ½ c. sliced Melissa’s pickled jalapeños 
1 15-oz. can refried beans
2 c. Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 c. salsa
2 green onions, chopped
1 2.25-oz. can sliced black olives
1 tomato, chopped
2 cups corn chips (coarsely crushed)

 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray the bottom of an 8” x 8” casserole dish with PAM. Place crushed corn chips into the bottom of casserole dish; set aside.

 Heat refried beans on stove until hot. Add 1 cup cheese and 1 cup salsa. Stir until combined. Spread beans over corn chips in dish.

 In a 10" skillet, brown ground beef; drain off any excess fat. Add taco seasoning and cook according to package directions. Stir in the frozen corn and jalapeños. Place beef/corn/jalapeno mixture on top of beans. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Sprinkle black olives and green onions over cheese.

 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese is sufficiently melted.

 Remove from oven and sprinkle chopped tomatoes on top. Allow to cool a couple of minutes before serving. Nice when served over a bed of shredded lettuce with sour cream and guacamole on the side.

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Smoky Jalapeño Cheddar Potato Soup

When you suddenly go crazy and make three different cauldrons of soup in one week, you can often come up short when it comes to storage/freezer containers. That’s precisely what happened to me when I decided to try a number of new soup recipes. Fortunately, one recipe was better than the other, and I am pretty much set for winter when it comes to soup. I do find that a nice cup of soup is a wonderful accompaniment to half a sandwich, salad, or roll. This recipe for smoky jalapeño cheddar potato soup is phenomenal! I think it is my favorite of the three that I tried. Be sure to cook your potatoes, as mentioned in the recipe, only until fork tender, you don’t want to cook them to mush. This bit of spicy, cheesy goodness is a must for the coming months.

Smoky Jalapeno Cheddar Potato Soup

Slightly adapted from oliveandmango.com

6 slices thick cut bacon

2 c. mirepoix (mixture of celery, carrots, and onions, all minced)

½ T. Melissa’s minced garlic

1 Melissa’s pickled jalapeño, seeded and chopped

1 t. dried thyme

1 12-oz. bottle of lager or Pilsner

1/3 c. flour

3 c. broth, chicken or vegetable *

1 c. heavy cream

4 small to medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

½ lb. of sharp old white cheddar cheese, grated coarsely

4 oz. smoked cheddar cheese grated coarsely

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, cook the bacon over med/high heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp, 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a bowl.

 Add the carrots, celery, onion, jalapeño, garlic and thyme to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until softened, 5-8 minutes. Add ½ of the beer and cook until reduced by half, another couple of minutes.

 Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir for a few minutes to cook off any floury taste.(see recipe note about thinking) Add the chicken broth just a little bit at a time, stirring as you add until smooth and creamy. The soup should start out very thick and eventually thin out as you add the full 3 cups of broth.

 Then stir in the remaining beer and the potatoes, and simmer for approx 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

 Add the heavy cream, cheddar cheeses and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and creamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved bacon and season with salt and pepper.

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Pineapple Cheese Ball

As I’ve mentioned before, I occasionally like to rummage through my mother’s recipe box. I decided to do that last week and came upon a recipe for pineapple cheese ball written in my late aunt’s handwriting. This seemed like the season for it and it sounded refreshing. Her version of this cheese ball called for green pepper. I like green pepper, but I wanted a little more zing, so I substituted the green pepper with pickled jalapeños, and that made a world of difference! This is one of those simple hors d’oeuvres that often goes unnoticed. It looks like nothing special, but the flavor is bright and tropical, with a nice amount of heat. If you are a fan of afternoon tea, this makes an excellent sandwich spread, particularly on a heavily seeded, nutty, whole wheat bread.

Pineapple Cheese Ball

2 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 14-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 c. toasted pecans, chopped, divided
2 Melissa’s pickled jalapeños, seeded, stemmed, and minced
1 t.  seasoned salt

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pineapple, 1 cup pecans, the jalapeños, and seasoned salt. Beat until combined. Form into a ball and roll in remaining cup of nuts. Chill overnight. If you want something a bit sweeter, consider replacing the pecans with toasted coconut.

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Chipotle’s Guacamole

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Cinco de Mayo is just a little more than a week away, and you cannot think about celebrating without guacamole. Two years ago last week, Chipotle published their recipe for guacamole on Twitter. I am sharing that tweet with you below. This is, indeed, an excellent recipe, that I like to tweak a bit by using Melissa’s pickled jalapeños because I enjoy that extra vinegary tang. I also tend to have a heavy hand with the cilantro because I love it. I realize that not everyone does, so leave it out if you prefer. Do make this recipe, it's a winner!

 

Chipotle’s Guacamole

 2 ripe Haas avocados

2 t. fresh lime juice

2 T. cilantro, chopped

1/4 c. red onion, diced

1/2 jalapeño, including seeds, diced

1/2 t. salt

 Cut avocados in half and remove pits carefully. Scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl; toss and coat with lime juice. Add the salt and mash until it’s a smooth consistency (I use an avocado masher.) Fold in remaining ingredients and mix. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

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Cilantro Pesto

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To quote Leslie Jordan and his HUGELY popular Instagram feed, “Hello, fellow hunker downers. What are y’all doing?” Me? I made cilantro pesto this morning.  I did so for a variety of reasons. First of all, I love cilantro. Second, I have no luck growing it because in this heat, it does nothing but bolt. Third, the versatility intrigued me.

Whether you like basil pesto or not, this is an entirely new ballgame. The taste is fresh, peppery, and complex. You can up the heat (or not) by using the entire jalapeño (seeded or otherwise), or eliminate the heat altogether by using none at all. The beauty of making a condiment like this is that you know it is the freshest available, it can be stirred into a variety of dishes to enhance your own cooking -- ranch dressing to top a Mexican salad, white rice to make cilantro rice, guacamole to add some zing to your dip, sour cream to turn an ordinary taco (or baked potato) into something special. It can be also it can also be divided into smaller containers (an ice cube tray would work here) and frozen. That way, you can enjoy fresh cilantro pesto whenever you want it, and enhance any dish that you please.

Cilantro Pesto

1 bunch fresh cilantro
2 T. chopped walnuts, toasted
5 cloves garlic
1 T. fresh lime juice
¼ c. freshly grated Parmesan
¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
½ Melissa’s pickled jalapeño*, seeded
1/8 t. kosher salt

Throw all ingredients into a food processor (or blender), and process until you have a smooth paste. Put into a container, cover, and refrigerate or freeze. Use in 1-2 days, or freeze.

*If you don’t have a jalapeño pepper on hand, or prefer not to use one, replace it with a few gratings of freshly ground black pepper.

Hot & Heavy Pimiento Cheese Spread

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As my hips will no doubt attest, food is a very important part of my life. And, ever since the onset of “shelter in place,” it has leapt from being merely important, to that of mammoth importance (again, hips). If I am going to be stuck in, I want rewards, and that reward had better come in edible form.

As a consequence, I try to keep my fridge stocked with all of my favorites, and one of my favorites, as you well know if you are a regular reader, is pimiento cheese. I always try to keep it on hand, and every time I make it I try to change the recipe up in one way or other in order to improve upon its general magnificence. I was feeling spicy today, so I added extra peppers, and a healthy portion of juice from a jar of pickled jalapeños. So, this delicious, creamy, pimiento cheese spread, is heavy on the peppers, and hot in taste, ergo the “Hot and Heavy” name. Don’t poke fun I’m getting punchy. No doubt you are too.

Hot & Heavy Pimiento Cheese Spread

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. mayonnaise
¼ c. sour cream
¼ t. cayenne pepper
¼ t. garlic powder
2 T. juice from Melissa’s pickled jalapeños
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ c. chopped Melissa’s sweet red bell peppers

Beat together cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and pickled jalapeño juice until smooth and creamy. Fold in cheese and red peppers. Refrigerate for four hours (preferably overnight) to allow flavors to meld. Enjoy!

Jalapeño Popper Bread

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Earlier when I posted the recipe for Homemade Garlic Butter (that you all seemed to like, thanks for that), I told you that I was going to be using it in another recipe later in the week. True to my word, here it is! I cannot possibly describe how good this jalapeño popper bread is. It gives you all of the flavor of poppers, without the hassle of actually having to stuff those little peppers. Further, it is a wonderful spread on toast, and an incredibly good dip for apples. I have become positively obsessed with it, having enjoyed it with apples, every night for the past week as a snack. You might consider doubling, or even tripling this recipe. Yep, it’s that good.

Pair it with a bowl of Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup and you have one heck of a hearty and satisfying meal.

Jalapeño Popper Bread

1 loaf of French bread*
½ c. garlic butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sour cream
½ c. chopped Melissa’s Pickled Jalapeño Peppers
¼ t. kosher salt
1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper
2 c. grated Fontina cheese

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a pan with parchment paper or foil; set aside. Slice bread in half lengthwise and place, cut side up, on the pan. Spread both pieces with the softened garlic butter and bake for five minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat together remaining ingredients EXCEPT cheese. Remove the toasted bread from the oven and slather both pieces with the cream cheese mixture; top with grated Fontina cheese. Dot the top with slices of jalapeño, if desired. Return to the oven and bake an additional 8 to 10 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven, and let stand five minutes before slicing and serving.

*I make this in individual slices using a rustic bread, in this case, Pane Turano from Aldi.

Jalapeño Popper Hasselback Chicken

Years ago Jim used to make hassleback potatoes. He would make perfect slices, 1/8" apart, and it was tedious work. Then, separating each one of those finely executed slices, to fill with Parmesan cheese wasn’t any easier. Honestly, it took him half of the day, but it was well worth it! Those potatoes were wonderful, and always got rave reviews from our guests.

Fast-forward a half dozen years or so when I spotted this recipe for hassleback chicken, and a jalapeño popper version no less; I had to give it a try. It is incredible, and very easy to do. Now, the suggested width of slices into the chicken breast is a quarter of an inch. That would have meant a couple of slices of bacon, and a couple of slices of cheese, per serving. Considering the topping, I figured that was just way too calorie-laden for me. So I took the easy way out, and made my slices about a half of an inch apart, used one piece of bacon, broken into thirds, and one slice of sharp cheddar per chicken breast. I was not unhappy.

 Like so many things that I make here on the blog, this is easy to do, and can be made one day prior to baking and serving. Your chicken can be sliced and stuffed the day ahead; your topping can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator as well.

As I always do (and have mentioned many times before) I marinated the chicken in buttermilk overnight. I altered the recipe slightly because I find pickled jalapeños to be so much more flavorful so I used those. I also cut back on them a little bit, almost too much, so next time I’m going to add more. But the beauty of this recipe is that if you like it spicier you can add more, if you don’t like it quite as spicy, you can use less. You can also cut this recipe in half, which is exactly what I did, and enjoyed this meal one night, and froze another one for later. It is super, super good!

Jalapeño Popper Hasselback Chicken 

Slightly adapted from Twisted Food

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup Melissa’s Pickled Jalapeños, chopped
2 cups mixed mozzarella & cheddar
1 T. salt
1 T. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 chicken breasts
Sliced cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook bacon until crisp, drain, and cut each piece unto thirds; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, Jalapeños, two cheeses, salt, pepper, and cream; set aside.

Cut parallel slices down the length of each chicken breast, place them in a greased casserole dish, and insert alternate slices of cheese and bacon into each.

Season lightly with freshly ground, cracked pepper and a dusting of salt, and spoon over dollops of the cheesy popper mixture. Bake for around 40 - 50 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the chicken has cooked through.

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Another easy and impressive dish is this Spinach Artichoke Chicken for Two.

This post is linked to:

Celebrate Your Story

Inspire Me Tuesday

Reader Tip Tuesday

Tuesdays with a Twist

Full Plate Thursday

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