Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese
This recipe comes to us from Cassie of Back to Her Roots
Ingredients:
1 jalapeño pepper, stem, seeds, and membrane removed
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 slices bacon
1 tablespoon butter
2 slices Dave's Killer Bread White Bread Done Right
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
½ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
2 tablespoons crushed tortilla chips (about 5 chips)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450° (you can also do this in a toaster oven). Place the pepper, cut side up, on a small baking sheet, drizzle on the olive oil, and roast for 5-7 minutes, or until the pepper is softened and beginning to brown. Set aside to cool. Then dice into small pieces
Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a heavy-bottom skillet (I recommend a cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove from pan, reserving the bacon grease in the pan. Crumble bacon and set aside.
Melt the butter in the skillet with the bacon grease.
Spread half of the cream cheese over one side of one slice of the bread. Place in the skillet, cream cheese side up. Then sprinkle with half of the Monterey jack cheese. Sprinkle on the roasted jalapeño, the bacon, and the tortilla chips. Then top with the remaining Monterey jack cheese.
Spread the remaining half of the cream cheese over one side of the second slice of bread. Place it, cream cheese side down, on top of the sandwich. Press sandwich firmly with a spatula.
Cook for 6-7 minutes, or until the cheese begins to melt and the bread is brown and crunchy, then flip and cook an additional 4-5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes: Always use gloves when handling hot peppers.
Jalapeños can vary greatly in heat level. Fresh jalapeños are milder than older ones. Peppers with smooth, uniform skin will be milder. If you see a pepper that is bumpy, lumpy, or has variations in the skin, it will probably be spicier. Roasting the peppers will balance out some of this heat variation, but not all of it. I'd recommend tasting the pepper before putting it on the sandwich just to make sure you didn't pick up a scorcher
Recipe makes 1 sandwich
