Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday weekend.  We had gorgeous weather all weekend long so we spent a lot of time outdoors and it was very relaxing.  Of course, in keeping with the holiday tradition, we also barbequed a ton of food.  On the menu this weekend: ribs, chicken and these tasty little Smoked Jalapeño Poppers with Bacon, Apple, and Brie.  Holy cow, these pepper poppers were good.  I could have eaten 50 of them in one sitting.  The Brie cheese was a perfect compliment to the smokey bacon and the Granny Smith apple offered a cool, tart deliciousness against the spicy jalapeño.  One of the great things about cooking with fresh jalapeños is it’s always a surprise because you never know the level of spiciness you’ll get with each one.  Your mouth is either going to be happily tingling or on blazing hot fire for the next 30 minutes.  Good stuff!

Hey, here’s some exciting news (not!)…I am officially on a sugar detox.  J and I decided, after overindulging this past weekend, that it is high time to shape up our diet starting with a 14 day sugar detox.  Not the typically 21 day one, as doing an extra week might put us over the edge, just the 2 week one.  I have to admit, 2 weeks is a mighty long time for me since I’m terrible at following diets.  Seriously, I’m the worst.  Especially specific food restricting ones and I usually last all of three hours on any kind of diet or healthy eating plan.  It’s so hard for me to say no to food if I really want it, and if I can’t have it, I want it even more.  For example, I always rationalize cheating on a diet by telling J that I could die the following day and how it would totally suck that I didn’t get to eat whatever it was that I wanted to eat the day before.  Totally makes sense to me and I know y’all know what I’m talking about because I can’t be the only one who thinks this way.  Yeah, 2 weeks is a loooonnnnnnggggg time…

Enough about what I can’t eat and more about what I can, like these Smoked Jalapeño Poppers with Bacon, Apple, and Brie!  See all those cute little seeds inside the peppers?  Those are hot demon seeds that will burn your mouth all to hell.  And don’t even think about using your fingers to scrap them out because there will be a burning sensation that will sear through your skin, getting all under your fingernails, and you will wish damn jalapeños never existed.  It’s best to use a spoon or a butter knife to scrape out the seeds and veins and it’s always a good idea to wear gloves too if you have sensitive skin.

I love how the Brie molds right into the pepper cavity.  Easy as pie.  I used Brie because it was what I had on hand and it worked out perfectly.  The bacon was wrapped around the peppers once, fully encasing the cheese, and it stayed around the peppers well so I didn’t need toothpicks or anything to keep it there.

Smokey, cheesy, spicy goodness on top of a crisp, tart apple slice.  I was chowing down on these big time.  These poppers are obviously smoked…in a smoker…but I’m sure they could be made in the oven too.  Probably bake at 400F degrees for 20-30 minutes.

 

Update:  Holy crap, I just ate lunch and totally already cheated on this damn sugar detox.  It hasn’t even been 24 hours and I had to eat a handful of freaking BBQ potato chips.  OMG, I seriously cannot believe this.  It was probably because I was talking about food restrictions and I started subconsciously thinking about all the foods I can’t eat but want to eat.  On second thought, I actually think it’s Hubby J’s fault and I’m throwing him under the bus for this one.  The aforementioned potato chip bag was already opened because J went and opened it this past weekend.  I told him it was bad news that he was getting into the bag one day prior to us going on a diet.  He replied with “I sealed them up really well”.  Okay firstly, let it be known here and now that I can get through any chip clip, plastic or metal, in less than 2 seconds while blindfolded and with my hands tied behind my back, so there’s that.  Secondly, the bag he opened are none other than my all time favorite brand of potato chips, Fox Family Chips.  These are not your typical store bought ones…these are the best potato chips in the world!  They are also kind of hard to find because you can only buy them in the state of Maine or on their website.  All natural, no crap (except it does have some sugar!), and the BBQ variety is seriously spicy hot.  Just the way I like it!  J knows I can’t turn down anything spicy and cannot expect me to eat my lunch, knowing the whole time that there is an opened bag of these potato chips in the pantry.  I blame him.  All the way, 100%.  Thirdly, I will be cheating on the diet again tomorrow because I will not allow this opened bag of chips to go stale.  I have a set of principles that must be maintained, sugar detox or not.  These chips need to be eaten quickly and I will put them down tomorrow.  Thanks J.

This coming weekend I’m going to make about 100 of these Smoked Jalapeño Poppers with Bacon, Apple, and Brie (with sugar-free bacon, of course) and I’m going to eat them when I want to cheat on my diet (in other words, when I want potato chips).  Hope you try them too (even if you’re not on a sugar detox).

5.0 from 1 reviews

Smoked Jalapeño Poppers with Bacon, Apple, and Brie

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 10 mins

 

Author: Tasty Ever After

Serves: 28 poppers

Ingredients

• 14 fresh whole jalapeños
• 8 ounce Brie cheese
• 10 slices bacon, cut into thirds
• ½ fresh Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into â…› inch thin slices

Instructions

1. Wash and dry jalapeños, cut in half, and scoop out the seeds and vein from the inside with a spoon or butter knife. Take small slices of the Brie cheese and mold into the pepper halves, then wrap one bacon piece around each pepper. Set aside.
2. Prepare smoker, using fruit wood (apple, cherry, etc) and get temperature up to 225F degrees. Place prepared poppers in an aluminum foil pan and place on smoker grill rack. Smoker poppers for 2 hours.
3. Place one apple slice on serving platter and place one smoked jalapeño popper on top.
4. Enjoy with a nice cold beer!

3.3.3077

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