Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

I really like appetisers and in the past, I have been known to go to a restaurant and order only from the appetisers. But now that I know what my dietary issues are and that gluten is the culprit, that is not an option for me anymore. For the most part, when I go to a restaurant now all of the appetisers are out because they either contain gluten or are fried in the same oil they fry things containing gluten. Lately, I have been missing chowing down on appetisers. Since the celiac diagnosis, I have been getting more experience cooking for myself and I have taken to making my own appetisers without gluten or all that fat and oils that restaurant appetisers usually come with. I prefer baked appetisers anyway because they are less greasy and I had a bad experience once with an oil fire. I'll post about that experience in the notes if you are interested. At least I knew not to throw water on the fire and instead used flour, then salt, then basically any flour powder in reach of the kitchen. I got the fire out but it looked like a localised snowstorm happen in the kitchen.

Ingredients

four ounces of cream cheese, softened

One half cup of sharp cheddar, grated

Six jalapeno peppers

Coarse Salt, pepper to taste

Directions

If your cream cheese is cold, place on the counter and allow to come to room temperature for at least thirty minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees celcius.

If the cheese is not already grated, grate the cheese and place into a large bowl.

Add the cream cheese to the grated cheese. Mix well and season with the salt and pepper

Cut the jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds out.

Using a tablespoon, fill each jalapeno half with the cheese mixture.

Place the filled jalapenos on a parchment lined baking tray. Put in the oven and allow to bake for about 10 minutes or until browned and bubbling.

Notes

On almost burning our house down. Okay, so I was fourteen and handled myself pretty well considering. I was home alone and was hungry but as a kid I wasn't really experienced with cooking and really should have opted for baking rather than deep frying. I wanted fries so I cut up the fries and did not think to pat them dry before dumping them all at once into the hot oil. The oil erupted like a volcano and I am lucky I did not get hot oil right in my face. As soon as the oil hit the hot element, it burst into what looked like an atom bomb. Luckily - and I have no idea to this day how I knew this - but luckily I knew better than throw water on a grease fire and grabbed the flour and tossed it onto the fire. It wasn't enough to put the flames out so I grabbed the cornstarch bu the time the flames were out I had gone through the flour, cornstarch and pretty much anything white and powdery in the house. By the time the firetruck came, I had the fire out but there was a HUGE mess in the kitchen. It looked like a localised blizzard. My mom came home just as the firetruck arrived and the clean up took quite some time. I still have a bit of apprehension about fried foods especially if I make them myself.

But that is nothing compared to my old roommate who almost burnt our house down makign microwave popcorn. I came home and the house was full of smoke. That was also the day that we realsied the batteries in the smoke detector needed replacing. Anyways, he had a few and decided he wanted popcorn but accidentally put them in for 30 minutes and not 3 and then lay down on the couch. I have never let him live that down.