Atomic Stuffed Jalapeno

Note: this recipe is prepared in a smoker. I am sure you can bake this in the oven as well.

First wash and trim the jalapeno peppers. I highly recommend wearing plastic food prep gloves during the trimming portion to keep the jalapeno juices from soaking into your skin, so proceed with caution if you choose not to heed my advice. Simply chop the stem off and slice the pepper lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the white vein and rinse the pepper half under water to wash away the seeds.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, paprika and cayenne pepper. Using a butter knife, or a pastry bag, fill each jalapeno half with a generous portion of the cream cheese mixture. Top each one of the jalapenos with a Li’l Smokey.

Wrap each of the jalapenos with a half slice of bacon, making sure that the seam is directly on top of the Li’l Smokey. Secure the wrap it by inserting a toothpick straight down through the overlapping edges of the bacon all the way through the Li’l Smokey. Stop just short of going through the pepper though, that way the cream cheese doesn’t leak out through the hole.

Cooking the jalapenos is a matter of getting the bacon done to your liking. My preference is to cook it on the smoker at 250 degrees F for about an hour and a half. At this point the bacon isn’t overly crispy, but it’s definitely cooked enough to be bitten through. If you prefer a crispier bacon, then I’d suggest kicking the temperature up to 300 degrees F for about an hour. You’ll want to keep a close eye on the peppers though. If they overcook, then they’ll loose their stability and your jalapenos will spill out all over your smoker.