Battle of the Jalapeno Soups!

I've decided that I'm kitchen bipolar or something. Oh hey, it's 95 degrees and humid as heck? Why yes I feel compelled to make not one, but two different batches of soup that involve roasting jalapenos and while we're at it why don't we wash all the bedding (two hot dryer loads), clean and rotate the mattress, and hang the comforter out to air. Let's not forget the part where I refuse to turn on the AC for just me. Luckily having the shades drawn and fans blasting kept things pretty cool (except for the kitchen part). Mrs. T loaded me up with a ton of extra jalapenos and cheese at the end of our shore excursion so my mission today was to use them up. Enter....

THE BATTLE OF THE JALAPENO SOUPS!

An overview: both soups were divine. One was a healthier roasted jalapeno soup and the other was billed as a not so healthy jalapeno popper soup. They were both wonderful in their own ways but were significantly different. I served each with an equal amount of shredded cabot cheddar and crumbled bacon. Divine.
Soup #1: Roasted Jalapeno Soup. This one was lighter and did a great job at highlighting the roasted jalapeno flavor. It had a more earthy and vegetable flavor due to the carrot and onion base. The texture was thicker and creamier due to the blending. If you added a bit of cheddar cheese it would be spot on.
Soup #2: Jalapeno Popper Soup. Very decadent and rich. It tasted more like a cheese soup with jalapenos added in. It was very thin and watery to start with so I whisked in some flour and blended it. This improved the texture a lot and helped the cream cheese to incorporate instead of blobbing around.

The winner?!

My Vote: Roasted Jalapeno!

Mr. Lawyer's Vote: Jalapeno Popper!

As I said they were both delicious. I felt the roasted did a better job highlighting the jalapeno flavor but Mr. Lawyer thought it was a little on the bland side. The jalapeno popper was a decadent treat that should be used as a fondue side dish. There is no way I could have eaten a whole bowl of the jalapeno popper soup (Mr. Lawyer said he could which is probably why his cholesterol was not so hot).

Jalapeno Popper on the left and Roasted Jalapeno on the right.

Roasted Jalapeno Soup

(Adapted from chocolatemoosey.com)

Ingredients:
4 green jalapeno peppers
1/2 cup carrots, peeled and chopped (about 2 carrots)
1/2 cup onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Cut each jalapeno in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membrane. Place them face down onto the cookie sheet. Roast for 10-15 minutes or until slightly darkened. When cool enough to handle, chop.
2. In a medium sauce pot, heat the olive oil. When hot, saute the carrots, onion, and garlic for about 5 minutes or until the carrots and onions start to soften.
3. Add in the butter. Once the butter has melted, stir in the flour until everything is coated. Stir in the chopped jalapenos. Slowly stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Then stir in the heavy cream and bring back to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cook until the soup has thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
4. When the soup has thickened, turn off the heat. If using an immersion blender, blend the soup directly in the pan. If using a regular blender, add about half the mixture then puree until smooth. Add the rest of the soup then puree until smooth. Pour back into the sauce pan.

Jalapeno Popper Soup

(Adapted from ibreatheimhungry.com)

Ingredients:
4 slices raw bacon
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups water or chicken broth
2 tablespoons salsa verde (I subbed onions)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
4 large jalapeno peppers
Directions:
1. Cook the bacon in a medium saucepan until crisp – remove and chop for garnish and set aside. 

2. In the same pan, along with the bacon grease, add the heavy cream, water or broth, and cream cheese. Simmer gently, stirring often, until the cream cheese and butter have melted and the liquid is smooth. 

3. Whisk in the garlic powder, salsa verde and shredded cheeses until completely incorporated. 4. Meanwhile, wash the jalapenos and broil or grill them until softened and charred. Remove the skins and seeds and chop finely. Add to the soup and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and serve garnished with chopped bacon.

Now go make some homemade soup! It's super easy.

A Spicy Kind of Night

As my 90 year old former co-worker use to say: this drink is hotter than the hinges of hell! I must have picked an amped out jalapeno because even seeded it was a beast! I was intrigued by the spicy citrus combination and we had a bunch of rum (leftover from our hurricane preparations) to use up so why not. It might have been luck of the jalapeno draw but the spiciness overpowered any pineapple flavor and I couldn't taste the rum at all. It's an intriguing recipe but it didn't wow me and won't be making a repeat performance! And then I spent the rest of the night rubbing my eyes with spicy jalapeno fingers. Fun times.

Pineapple-Jalapeno Daiquiris

(from the Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced and seeded (or maybe just half!)

2.5 cups fresh chopped pineapple

3/4 cup rum

3 tablespoons sugar

1 lime, juiced

1.5 cups ice

Directions:
1. Combine sliced jalapeno with pineapple in a shallow dish. Freeze until firm, about 3 hours.

2. Transfer the pineapple mixture to a blender and add the rum, sugar, lime juice, and ice. Puree until smooth.

3. Divide among four glasses and garnish with a jalapeno slice or cilantro sprig.

It burns!

Why are my lungs burning? Oh right, simmering jalapenos. This recipe was a little underwhelming. The flavor wasn't there for me. You could taste the jalapenos but the sweet orange flavor didn't pop. Of course we've been spoiled with some very flavorful and amazing salmon recipes lately: Sweet & Salty, Asian with Lime Drizzle, and Teriyaki with Sriracha Cream. I think that adding orange zest might have helped bring out the sweet orange flavor.

Jalapeno-Orange Glazed Salmon

(from wearenotmartha.com)

Ingredients:
2 jalapeños, 1 minced, 1 sliced
1/4 cup orange juice (and maybe some zest?!)
1/8 cup honey
2 salmon fillets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1) Put the minced jalapeño, orange juice, and honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for about 8-10 minutes until it thickens.
2) Brush the salmon lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. When the jalapeno-orange juice mixture is done simmering, brush about half of the mixture over the salmon.
3) Grill salmon on medium-medium low in frying pan for about 3 minutes on each side.
4) Remove salmon from pan and immediately put jalapeño rounds in grill pan. Turn heat to medium-high and grill until browned.
5) Brush salmon with the remaining jalapeno-orange mixture and top with grilled jalapeno rounds.

Candied Jalapenos

I have a jar of pickled jalapenos leftover from my Chili Bar Party. They are super spicy so I decided to sweeten them up a bit...time for some candied jalapenos! I didn't do any measuring, everything is a guess. I started with 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/4 cup sugar. I heated it up and add some of the jalapenos. I let it simmer for 10 minutes. I would taste the syrup and if it was still super spicy I would add in a little more sugar.

They were AMAZING on a burger.

The spiciness with the hint of sweetness was to die for.

Jalapeno Cheese Sauce!

You should never chase your dayquil with a cup of coffee. You might do something insane like bake a whole batch of delicious pretzels and attempt to eat them all with no warning. By then you've used up all your reserve energy in this spurt of feeling better and find yourself dying back on the couch. It was certainly delicious. My pretzel recipe is still amazing, you can find it HERE! The jalapeno cheese sauce was a new amazing addition. I highly recommend it.

Jalapeno Cheese Sauce

(Pinterest find! adapted from smells like home)

Ingredients:
Jarred jalapenos (the equivalent of 1 jalapeno)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
4 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the chopped jalapeños to coat with the butter. Whisk in the flour, coating the peppers, and cook for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.

2. Slowly whisk in the milk. Stirring constantly, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat until it thickens, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the shredded cheese until all of the cheese has melted. Serve warm.

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

It's a little bit chilly out and this sandwich provided a little bit of heat. I made a batch of my Tomato-Orzo Soup (I omitted the cream). It's almost gone, clearly still a favorite. This Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese was spot on. It actually tasted like a popper! They are a bit on the rich side so I don't think you could have more than one. It was really fun (and easy!) roasted the peppers. It added a nice smokiness. I also baked my bacon on a wire rack so it wasn't soaking up the grease. The perfect lunch for a chilly day!

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

(Pinterest find!)

Ingredients for 2 sandwiches:
2 jalapeno peppers

4 pieces of bacon
4 slices of good bread
1 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoons cream cheese
Cheddar cheese, desired amount
Directions:

1. Broil the peppers on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, until blackened. Remove from oven and place peppers in a zip-lock bag. Once cool, peel off the skins, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cook the bacon to the desired crispness. 

2. Butter the outside of bread and spread the cream cheese on the inside. On each sandwich layer 1 sliced up jalapeno, 2 slices of bacon, and cheddar cheese.

3. Grill your cheese! Serve with soup.

Sweet & Spicy!

This is hands down the best appetizer I've had in a long time. Mrs. T whipped up a batch of these this past weekend at the shore and they were to die for. I loved them so much that Monday after work I ran to the store to pick up the ingredients and we had jalapeno poppers for dinner! The sweet and spicy play off each other so well....plus it can't be bad if it's wrapped in bacon! The original recipe used chili seasoning but we subbed Tony's Creole Seasoning which was amazing.

My six jalapenos were very large so I doubled the cheese filling and it worked out perfectly. My bacon didn't cook evenly, especially on the bottom, so next time I will try baking them on a wire rack or pre-cooking the bacon a bit. The only other issue was the bacon shrinking and semi-falling off on some pieces.

Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno Poppers

(adapted from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
6 jalapeno peppers
4 ounces cream cheese, softened (double if needed)
2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese (double if needed)
6 bacon strips, halved widthwise
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon creole/cajun seasoning
Directions:
1. Cut jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove seeds; set aside. In a small bowl, beat cheeses until blended. Spoon into pepper halves. Wrap a half-strip of bacon around each pepper half.
2. Combine brown sugar and chili seasoning; coat peppers with sugar mixture.
3. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until bacon is firm.

Happy Fourth!

 Happy Fourth of July! This is the first year that I can remember not spending with family so I've been a bit mopey today. The past couple of years we've been at the shore and before that I was on the lake with the Nelsons. I miss family and cookouts! So I tried to make a spicy firecracker of a burger to celebrate. However, it wasn't that spicy! I don't think my jalapeno was up to par. It still tasted delicious but it was definitely more of a savory flavor. I halved the recipe and added half a cup of panko bread crumbs.

Spicy Turkey Burgers

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
2 fresh green chile peppers, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground dry mustard
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
1. Preheat the grill for high heat.
2. In a bowl, mix the ground turkey, garlic, ginger, chile peppers, red onion, cilantro, salt, soy sauce, black pepper, paprika, mustard, cumin, and Worcestershire sauce. Form the mixture into 8 burger patties.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place turkey burgers on the grill, and cook 5 to 10 minutes per side, until well done.

Bits and Pieces of Favorites

Let me introduce you to a couple of my current favorite things.

I love, love, love a nice good spicy food. These two items don't disappoint. 

The Strawberry Hotsy Totsy Jam was a gift from the Easter Bunny (thanks Mrs. T!). The Strawberry-Jalapeno combo has been making for some delicious english muffins. It's sweet but has an underlying slow burn that creeps up on you. The perfect thing to wake you up in the morning!

Jalapeno Hummus, be still my heart! I might have found a new favorite flavor of hummus. It has an in your face kick, not subtle at all. I made a marvelous sandwich yesterday: pita, jalapeno hummus, feta cheese and leftover Mexicali chicken.

Devil's Mac & Cheese

I think I will rename this recipe from "Spicy Macaroni and Cheese" to "Devi's Mac & Cheese" for two reasons. First, it's completely unhealthy. When I served it I told Mr. Lawyer that it was a "Don't ask" recipe. It did manage to put a little dent in my Cabot stash. Secondly, it's spicy! And delicious. It was a big hit but very rich so proceed with caution!

I made some very smart alterations to the original recipe. For starters, and most importantly, I added the jalapeno topping! It was fabulous. It gets nice and broiled and is kind of sweet/kinda spicy. It was my favorite part. The original recipe called for 8 ounces of colby cheese which I swapped out for the 1/2 cup parm. Sure the colby would have made it more creamy but another block of cheese?! I find colby to be a bit lacking in the flavor department so I went with the parmesan and do not regret it!

Devil's Mac & Cheese

(adapted from Sunny Anderson, Food Network)

Ingredients:
2 cups shell pasta, cooked until almost al dente
8 ounces Cabot Cheddar, shredded
8 ounces Cabot Pepper Jack, shredded

1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup finely grated onions

1 jalapeno, minced
4 slices bread (or panko bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg. Add the sour cream, egg, heavy cream, half-and-half and onions. Mix in all the cheese!

3. Pour over the pasta and mix well. Bake in a 2 quart (or 8x8) dish. Sprinkle the jalapeno and a little extra parmesan on the top. Bake uncovered until the top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cut the bread into crouton-size squares. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, add the bread cubes and toast until golden. Sprinkle the bread cubes (or panko crumbs) on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

Chili Snow

And we've come full circle! Way back in December my first post after moving to Philly was on Turkey Chili and here it is again! We used my original chili recipe as a loose guide but Mr. Lawyer requested spicy so that's what we did! All served up with Cabot Cheddar (I found some Seriously Sharp out in the suburbs....it might last the weekend!) and cornbread. It was the perfect dish for the first snow of the year! It was all blustery, freezing and snowing outside and inside it was nice, toasty and a crockpot of chili was making the place smell heavenly. mmmmm. I love it.

Jenni's Turkey Chili

(from my kitchen!)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
½ cup chopped onion

3 cloves chopped garlic

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 can kidney beans
2 cans of chili beans
1 can undrained diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon or so of chili powder

A few dashes of red pepper flakes

Cheddar cheese and cornbread for serving
Directions:
1. Saute up the onion, garlic, and peppers. Add in the turkey, sprinkle with chili pepper and pepper flakes and cook until browned.
2. Throw everything in the crockpot on low and go about your day smelling the deliciousness as you putter around your house.

3. Serve with cheese and bread

Leftovers freeze wonderfully for a chilly (chili!) day pick me up!

Some like it Spicy!

You need to make this dish. It's hard to have a favorite but this might be a favorite. I use to make huge batches all the time in Syracuse and then eat it all week. It's delicious. I had Mr. Lawyer over one time and he ate it politely and then told me that he wasn't a huge fan of peanut sauces so I had held off on making it on Philly....which is why I had Amanda over tonight because she appreciates peanut sauces! (and brings me crescent rolls and cookies) Then lo and behold Mr. Lawyer marches through the door, grabs a plate and devours it! He has now decided that this batch wasn't as peanut-y or that he might now like peanut sauces. Silly boys. Anyway, peanut sauce, spiciness, and shrimp! All on noodles! What's not to be in love with?
Recipe notes: I always double the sauce because if you save some, the noodles so it all up. I also keep the sauce and noodles separate for leftover purposes so I don't run into that soaked up all the sauce noodle problem. Watch your jalapenos! The first time I made this it was hot hot hot! Which is good because I'm kind of a glutton for punishment when it comes to things like this but not everyone likes having to take a drink or bite of roll in between ever forkful. Speaking of which Pillsbury Crescent Rolls go amazingly well with this dish. It must be the texture but I highly recommend them. I also like to use pre-cooked shrimp (medium size) because it's less gross than raw shrimp and I normally just add the whole bag of frozen shrimp because life is more fun with shrimp.

Linguine with Spicy Shrimp Sauce

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
8 oz linguine
12 oz shrimp (de-tailed)
2 red peppers
3 scallions
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1-2 tablespoons sesame oil (I always use 2)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I always use low sodium)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Directions:
1. Prepare pasta according to directions.
2. Cut peppers into bite sized pieces (for less spice, seed the jalapeno)
3. Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan, cover and simmer on low heat (stirring occasionally) until shrimp is cooked.

Bits and Pitas

A word about pitas: love. Fresh pitas are amazing for anything. Like homemade pita chips and delicious mini pizzas and let's not forget sandwiches! Which leads us to jalapenos. Have you ever added jalapenos to your tuna fish sandwich which just happens to be on a fresh out of the oven pita and layered with Cabot seriously sharp cheese? Heaven.