APRIL 2022 15
BACON-WRAPPED JALAPEÑO PIG POPPERS YIELD: 20 POPPERS | PREP TIME: 1 HOUR | COOK TIME: 15 MINUTES
INGREDIENTS
POPPER FILLING
1 pound andouille sausage,
chopped finely
¼ cup yellow onion, ⅛" dice
3 tbsp red bell pepper, ⅛" dice
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped fine
¼tsp cumin, ground
1¼tsp cayenne pepper, ground
1¼pounds cream cheese,sof tened
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup Parmesan cheese,
shredded
2 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp canola oil
PIG POPPERS
20 large jalapeños
3 cups popper filling
20 strips thick-cut bacon,
cooked half way (flat on a baking
sheet at 350° for eight to 10
minutes)
12 oz Guy Fieri’s Bourbon
Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce
3 oz but termilk ranch dressing
for dipping
DIRECTIONS
- For the filling, preheat large
skillet over medium-high heat and
add canola oil, andouille sausage,
onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook
about 10 minutes to render out
fat from the andouille and soften
veggies. - Once fully cooked, cool
completely. - Place chilled andouille mix ture
into a stand mixer with the paddle
at tachment and add remaining
ingredients. Mix until fully
incorporated. Scrape bowl and
paddle with rubber spatula and
continue to mix. You may have to
scrape bowl a couple of times to
make sure it’s fully incorporated. - Place filling in pastr y bag and
reser ve for jalapeños. - To fill and wrap poppers:
Preheat oven to 400°. Place raw
jalapeños on lined sheet pan
and roast for eight minutes. Cool
completely. - Once cooled, slice down side
of jalapeño with knife and gently
remove seeds and ribs. Tr y to keep
jalapeños intact.
- Take pastr y bag and pipe filling
into jalapeños. (Allow filling to
soften for easier piping.) - Chill stuf fed jalapeños for at
least one hour. - Once stuf fed and chilled,
stretch par-cooked bacon and wrap
the peppers from top to bot tom,
tr ying to cover opening completely.
Use a toothpick or bamboo skewer
to hold bacon in place.
10. Preheat grill to medium-low
temperature and place the poppers
on to crisp bacon. Be careful not to
burn bacon.
11. Cook for five to six minutes,
rotating periodically to prevent
burning.
12. Brush the poppers with BBQ
sauce and cook for one more
minute to glaze, being careful not
to burn.
13. Ser ve with but termilk ranch
dressing for dipping.
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT SUPER BOWL
CHAMP? OUR EXPERTS HAVE IDEAS
BRIGHT FUTURE
SI SPORTSBOOK GARY GR AMLING: PACKERS +
I know, everyone’s freaking out about Aaron Rodgers right
now. But there’s an 80% chance he’ll be back in Green Bay,
and, because the salary cap is a myth, the Packers should
be able to retain most of their veteran talent (and they have
Rich Bisaccia to fix the special teams!).
MAT T DELIMA: 49ERS +
Even if Trey Lance ends up being a painfully mediocre QB,
the 49ers are on track to at least make another appearance in
the NFC championship game. Bolstered by those two magic
playoff ingredients—a power run game and stif ling defense—
they boast one of the most durable rosters in the league.
K YLE WOOD: BILLS +
As the last four seasons have shown, you have to go through
the Chiefs to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and the
Bills are sustainably built to do just that with a shutdown
defense and stellar offense assembled around Josh Allen.
CR AIG ELLENPORT: 49ERS +
I think the Bills will be the NFL’s best team in 2022, but the
AFC is so loaded that it’s not worth investing in Buffalo—or
the Chiefs, for that matter—to get out of the conference.
IF YOU HAD bet a hundred bucks on the Rams to win the
Super Bowl before last season, you potentially would have
landed a windfall of $1,500. So which teams look good for
next February right now? (Keep in mind the draft is still
to come.) Here’s who our football, betting and fantasy
crew like, with odds from SI Sportsbook as of March 1.
JENNIFER PIACENTI: COWBOYS +
Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is returning, and he will
find a way to get CeeDee Lamb more involved. Dak Prescott
has a lot to prove, and he will prove it. The Cowboys will
dominate the NFC East again, and then they’ll learn not to
outplay themselves with penalties in the postseason.