Recipe Background
The human fascination of stuffing foods inside other foods has yielded so many culinary wonders. The jalapeño popper is one such example, as are these Chicken Poppers. Chicken Poppers are essentially chicken cutlets stuffed with a jalapeño popper... so the savory chicken is stuffed with a spicy jalapeño, which in turn is stuffed with cream cheese for a creamy, tangy balance. Oh, and Chicken Poppers are wrapped in crispy delicious bacon. Because it's going to go the distance, that's why.
The human fascination of stuffing foods inside other foods has yielded so many culinary wonders. The jalapeño popper is one such example, as are these Chicken Poppers. Chicken Poppers are essentially chicken cutlets stuffed with a jalapeño popper... so the savory chicken is stuffed with a spicy jalapeño, which in turn is stuffed with cream cheese for a creamy, tangy balance. Oh, and Chicken Poppers are wrapped in crispy delicious bacon. Because it's going to go the distance, that's why.
Ingredients
- 4 (3-ounce) jalapeño peppers
- 3 tablespoons water
- 4 ounces cream cheese divided into 4 (1-ounce) pieces, chilled
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 4 small chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 4 thin slices Colby-Jack cheese
- 20 slices bacon
Directions
- While wearing disposable gloves and using a small paring knife, cut the stem-ends off the jalapeño peppers. You should be able to see inside the pepper and see the white ribs attached to the walls of the peppers.
- Carefully remove the ribs and the seeds from the jalapeño peppers, making sure you don't break the peppers in half.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add the hollowed out jalapeño peppers and the water.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and microwave the bowl on high power until the jalapeño peppers are olive green and lightly softened, but still firm and retain their shape, about 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer the jalapeño peppers to paper towels to drain and allow them to cool slightly.
- Stuff each of the jalapeño peppers with 1 piece of the cream cheese, squeezing the walls of the peppers lightly to ensure the cream cheese is equally distributed throughout each pepper.
- In a small bowl, add the cumin, the salt, and the black pepper and whisk to combine.
- Pound each of the chicken breasts lengthwise until they are 1/4-inch-thick, rectangular cutlets.
- Sprinkle each of the chicken cutlets with 1/4 of the seasoning mixture, making sure to season both sides.
- Rotate the chicken cutlets so one of the narrow ends of each of the cutlets face you.
- Place 1 slice of the Colby-Jack on the bottom edge of each of the cutlets.
- Place 1 of the stuffed jalapeño peppers crosswise on top of each of the cheese slices, about 2 inches from the bottom.
- Tightly roll up the cutlets around the jalapeño peppers, making sure to fold the sides in as you roll.
- On a clean work surface, lay out 5 strips of the bacon so that the strips slightly overlap by about 1/4-inch. The resulting bacon slices should be just wide enough to completely cover one of the chicken rolls.
- Place 1 one of the chicken rolls at the bottom of the bacon slices and then tightly wrap the chicken roll in the bacon.
- Repeat using the remaining bacon strips and the remaining chicken rolls.
- Preheat a grill to medium-high heat, setting it up for indirect heat.
- Add the chicken rolls, with the bacon seam-side down, on the cooler side of the grill and cover the grill.
- Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, the bacon begins to brown, and the cheese begins to melt and ooze out the sides of the rolls, about 15-20 minutes.
- Transfer the chicken rolls to the hot side of the grill and cook until they are lightly charred, about 1-2 minutes.
- Allow the chicken rolls to cool for 5 minutes.
- Serve.
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