Southside Baked Stuffed Jalapeños, 1970’s Style

Growing up in San Antonio, Texas near each other, Dodie and I share a fondness for Mexican food.

Usually on Wednesdays, (because traditionally our school cafeterias served it on that day each week) we enjoy Mexican food in nearby Bandera.

In the spirit of this tradition, we would like to share this Baked Stuffed Jalapenos dish.

Ingredients

12 Jalapeño peppers
1/4 Cup minced onion
1/4 Cup chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 Cup cream cheese
1 1/2 Teaspoons cumin
1 Teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
2 Ounces jack cheese, cut into 2 1/2-inch long batons

For the bacon and jack cheese filling version:

12 Jalapeño peppers
1/4 Cup chopped cooked bacon
1/4 Cup minced onion
1/2 Cup shredded jack cheese, plus another 2 ounces of jack cheese cut into 2 1/2-inch long batons
1/4 Cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 Teaspoons cumin
1 Teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Prepare the jalapeños for stuffing. You can either slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise. Alternatively, you can slice off the top one-third (lengthwise) of each jalapeño to make a boat shape out of each pepper.

The halved jalapeños will go further (twice as many stuffed peppers), but you can put more filling into the boat-shaped peppers. Your choice.

If you choose to make the boats, you can mince the tops and add them to the filling if you want some extra heat, or save them for another recipe.

In either case, scrape out all the seeds and ribs from each jalapeño with a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works great).

Mix together all the filling ingredients except the jack cheese batons.

Stuff the jalapeños: Pack the filling into the peppers and nestle a baton of jack cheese onto the filling of each one.

Bake: Arrange the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned, and the peppers are cooked.

Cool for 5 minutes before serving.