Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

By kdet

Ingredients

• 12 fresh jalapenos, the largest you can find
• 12 fresh, jumbo sized shrimp, shells off, de-veined
• 12 oz Monterrey Jack cheese or other soft melting cheese, sliced into 12 sticks
• 12 strips regular fatty bacon (not center cut or thick sliced)
• tooth picks

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare your grill for medium heat. Sorry non-grill folks, you can try making these in the oven but they just don’t turn out as nicely.
Wearing gloves, slice the jalapenos lengthwise without breaking all the way through. Make small cuts at the stem and tip so that you can open up the jalapeno without breaking it up too much.
Use a small paring knife or spoon to scrape out all of the inside seeds and membranes. Clean them out really well unless you like a super hot popper.
Insert a stick of cheese into the pepper. Next wedge as much of the shrimp into the jalapeno as possible with the tail end sticking out. Depending on the size of your shrimp and the size of your jalapenos this might be easy or hard. If there is not enough room just get as much of the shrimp in as you can. The bacon wrapping will hold them together.
Wrap the shrimp and jalapeno tightly with a strip of bacon, stretching and overlapping slightly as you go. Secure the bacon with a toothpick. Repeat.
Grill poppers until bacon is crisp and browned all over, turning as needed. The bacon fat will melt off and some cheese may melt out so watch for flare-ups.