Chorizo-Stuffed Jalapenos ala Homesick Texan

Appetizer - Side Dish - Party Food - Lunch

This is one of those dishes that is a bit difficult to categorize.  Smokers (the folks who smoke meat low and slow) have been serving some form of stuffed jalapenos for a long time.  It's very easy to pop em on the grill for the last few hours and enjoy as a side dish.  Grillers (BBQ guys) have been known to wrap a stuffed jalapeno with sausage and grill em up.  And now restaurants are deep fat frying stuffed peppers.

 I have had and enjoyed them all.

But these are the best.  No need for a grill or smoker (although a little extra smokey taste would be a good thing).  Bake em.

It's easy to adapt.  Me, I LOVED the bite and aftertaste of a nice jalapeno.  Combined with the spice filled taste of a Mexican Chorizo Sausage, you have a taste that lingers.  Like I said, me, LOVED it!

My wife, well, not as much.  She appreciates a little heat in her dishes and she is not afraid of spices.  But a little goes a long way with her.  She likes the taste, not so much a big fan of the lingering aftertaste.  So, I also bought her a couple of Anaheim Peppers, those bigger, longer peppers that certainly have a taste, but not nearly the burn of a jalapeno.

As to the cheese, a wonderful mix.  First, a beautiful presentation that my photos do not really capture.  You mix in a bot of cooked chorizo sausage in with the cheese.  That gets that delicious reddish orange color that pairs with the lush green of the pepper.  It's just pretty!

The creamy mixture of goat cheese and cream cheese balances the spices of the chorizo sausage and the bite of the jalapeno.  And finally, with the topping of the sausage, run under a broiler, you get a bit of a crispy crunch to the sausage.  A great mix of textures with the peppers being a soft crunch, melded with the creaminess of the cheese and the crispy crunch of the sausage...

Like I said, about as good as it gets!

This recipe is part of my obligation (twist my arm! Please...twist it a little...make it hurt...now call me "Helen"...make me write bad checks!) I accepted to review The Homesick Texan Cookbook!

Hopefully you have been following along over the last two weeks.  I am part of an elite group of bloggers, 19 in all who have accepted a challenge... A Cookoff and Spotlight for the Homesick Texan Cookbook.

2 weeks ago, I made some WONDERFUL Pork Tacos Dallas Gas Station Style .

Last week I jumped on an equally marvelous Poblano Macaroni and Cheese.

And just yesterday, I reviewed the Corn Chowder with Roasted Jalapenos and Bacon .

The book is now available to the masses!  It was fun to actually get a book fed exed HOT off the presses and be a part of the early advance.  With minor tweaks (hey, 19 cooks are gonna want to add a pinch, whisk instead of blend and use an Anaheim Pepper in place of a Jalapeno to keep their wife happy)... As I was saying, with minor tweaks, all 19 of us have given the recipes rave reviews.  The book is stunningly beautiful and the recipes we all have chosen have been just top notch.

And (to me), a wonderful trend is starting.  Bloggers are getting the respect we are due.  Lisa Fain, blogger and now cookbook author has made that leap!  She has established herself as a brand and the foodie world is now giving her the respect she has earned!

And so... Here's what I did...

Chorizo-Stuffed Jalapenos

ala Homesick Texan Cookbook

12 medium Jalapeno Peppers
1/4 pound Chorizo Sausage, cooked and drained of grease
8 ounces Cream Cheese, room temperature
2 ounces Goat Cheese, room temperature
1 TBS chopped Cilantro
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp ground Cumin
2 cloves Garlic, smashed and minced
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper Spice
1 tsp Lime Zest
Salt to taste

• Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil
• Take each jalapeno and slice in half, remove seeds and white pulp and discard.
• Mix together 1/2 the cooked sausage and all of the remaining ingredients.
• Fill each f the peppers, top with the remaining sausage
• Broil for about 8 minutes

And bet you can't eat just one!