Tim Danner

For a party on Saturday I reconstructed an appetizer Carrie and I had at the Gage Hotel in Marathon, Texas, a few weeks ago.

Take 20 fresh jalapeños, cut the tops off, and remove the seeds and ribs as best you can. This can be a bit tricky. I found the 1/4 t. measuring spoon to be helpful in cleaning them out.

Put an 8 ounce package of room temperature cream cheese in the food processor with a handful of cilantro leaves (about 1/4 cup) and a generous shake of cayenne (at least a teaspoon). Run the food processor until it’s all combined. If it isn’t pink, add some more cayenne.

Put the cream cheese mixture into a plastic bag and cut one corner off. Use the bag to squirt cream cheese into the jalapeños. Cut 10 slices of bacon in half and wrap half a slice around each filled jalapeño. Stick a toothpick through the bacon and pepper to hold it together.

Place the stuffed and wrapped jalapeños in a muffin pan, two to a cup so they mostly stand upright. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Broil in the oven for 10 minutes until top of the cream cheese starts to brown and the peppers just begin to blister.