Mechanic mom just made me feel faint....
Can you get a photo or video of her and this nasty habit? Bless her heart.
Maybe have her help you prepare a bunch of jalapenos for shrimp stuffed appetizers. Those fingers will remind her real fast about picking and eating.
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
makes 12, prep 30-40 minutes, cook 10 minutes
12 fresh jalapenos, the largest you can find
12 fresh, jumbo sized shrimp, shells off, de-veined
12 oz Monterrey Jack cheese or other soft melting cheese, sliced into 12 sticks
12 strips regular fatty bacon (not center cut or thick sliced)
tooth picks
Prepare your grill for medium heat. Sorry non-grill folks, you can try making these in the oven but they just don’t turn out as nicely.
Wearing gloves, slice the jalapenos lengthwise without breaking all the way through. Make small cuts at the stem and tip so that you can open up the jalapeno without breaking it up too much.
Use a small paring knife or spoon to scrape out all of the inside seeds and membranes. Clean them out really well unless you like a super hot popper.
Insert a stick of cheese into the pepper. Next wedge as much of the shrimp into the jalapeno as possible with the tail end sticking out. Depending on the size of your shrimp and the size of your jalapenos this might be easy or hard. If there is not enough room just get as much of the shrimp in as you can. The bacon wrapping will hold them together.
Wrap the shrimp and jalapeno tightly with a strip of bacon, stretching and overlapping slightly as you go. Secure the bacon with a toothpick. Repeat.
Grill poppers until bacon is crisp and browned all over, turning as needed. The bacon fat will melt off and some cheese may melt out so watch for flare-ups.
Now a word of warning about working with hot peppers. Seriously. I have cut many many jalapenos in my life and never really worried about wearing gloves. I didn’t overly handle the seeds or membranes with my fingers and was careful not to touch my nose or eyes, but I did it all bare-handed. That said, I ended the night I made the meal above in the most excruciating pain I have known in recent memory. I don’t know why it was different this time but I will never cut hot peppers again without gloves. Never. For anyone who is wondering I tried everything to make the burning stop: soap, degreaser, lemon juice, baking soda, rubbing alcohol, vegetable oil, butter, milk, tums, and Maalox. The only thing that provided even a modicum of relief was holding bags of frozen vegetables in my bare hands and even that was spotty. My hands burned intensely for about 12 hours and then off and on for the next twenty four hours. Never again. I love jalapenos and still do, but I will use gloves from now on when working with them. Thump your nose at my warning if you wish, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
