Party Like A Pro: Jalapeño Poppers

I'm of the school of thought that if you invite people over, you should feed them. Doesn't have to be a three course meal, but I think having a few light options to nosh on is polite. I'm not trying to sound pretentious, it is more an excuse for me to try out new recipes on the masses. Everyone appreciates food, especially when you cook it for them! So I bring you a new series: Party Like A Pro. Check out this tag for recipes to bring to your potluck, bookclub, or live action role playing weekend.

This recipe has been in the queue for over a year. I first tried it last year, when we invited a few friends over for a Oscars viewing party. All the other dishes were pretty big hit, but these little devils burned the crap out of everyone's mouth. The reason? Well I didn't take enough time to de-seed and devein the jalapeños, so they were super spicy. A little over a year later I decided it was retribution time, put more love and attention into removing the seeds, and not only did they come out edible, they were pretty damn delicious! Huzzah!

Jalapeño Poppers

• 12 jalapeño peppers
• 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
• 4 oz herbed goat cheese
• zest of one lemon
• 2 garlic cloves
• handful of flat leaf parsley

1. Remove seeds and white ribbing from the jalapeño peppers.  I slice across the top parallel to the top, then straight down from the stem making a T.  This is a labor of love, you want to be careful not to remove the top from the pepper but if you leave seeds or the any of the ribs behind they may come out really spicy!  (If you wear contacts, consider taking them out before you do this.  The oil from the pepper will stay on your skin, so wash wash wash them when you're done)
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined.
3. Put the cream cheese mixture into a large bag, snip off a corner and use it to pipe the filling inside the now hollowed out jalapeños.
4. Broil in your oven for about 5 minutes until the tops of the cheese are blackened and the peppers are soft.  They are delicious hot, but also great at room temperature!

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