Hot and spicy and good with a cracker or a chip!
We all love looking at Pinterest and the beautiful foods that people post there. Before I was hooked on Pinterest I was hooked on trying to get a picture of a recipe posted at Foodgawker and Tastespotting. I was lucky enough to get 3 out of 80+ (pitiful) posted there. And having a picture posted on Foodgawker or Tastespotting almost guaranteed a blog a lot of traffic from people wanting to find the recipe behind such a beautiful picture. I guess I didn’t take that many “beautiful” pictures. (My husband even has a Pinterest account now.)
Looking at my recipes that were on Foodgawker, Coconut Oatmeal Pie (3,244 view), Salted Caramel Ice Cream (3,983 views) and Quick and Easy Banana Pudding (10,607 views) it seemed like I got more traffic but then I take my old stand by favorite cookie, Peanut Butter Shadow cookies, and it has had 29,416 views. That’s a ridiculous number of view and I really don’t know how that many people found the recipe without knowing the name and searching for “peanut butter shadow cookies“. I’ve had that recipe since the 70’s and has always been my favorite peanut butter cookie.
Long story short is I finally realized that I don’t have to keep trying to get my pictures posted at those two sites when I can simply “pin it” at Pinterest and eventually a lot of people get around to looking at it. Now if I can just figure out how to make money on the blog, then I’d be satisfied but until I do, it’s fun to make and blog new recipes.
I gave up also on trying to make a Jalapeño Popper like you get in restaurants. Never could figure out how to get the breading to stick to the outside for a fresh jalapeño. This recipe for Jalapeño Popper Spread literally popped off the page the day I was looking at Pinterest. It reminds me of a cold dip that a friend always finds at Sam’s around the holidays. Sam’s is kind of a cold version of this recipe but with some artichokes thrown in; so I did a little changing around of some of the ingredients and thank you to All Recipes for giving me the start of something wonderful and lip smacking good.
I also call jalapeños filled with cheese, wrapped in bacon and grilled “poppers” so I decided to add some fried and crumbled bacon to the recipe. After all, bacon makes anything taste better.
All the ingredients for this yummy popper spread.
Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise and cheese together either by hand or with mixer.
Add the lemon juice and lemon zest.
After stirring in the chiles and chopped jalapeños, stir in the bacon.
Pour into a small casserole dish; I did a half recipe so my dish was about 7×9″.
Top with the bread crumb/cheese mixture and then drizzle with the melted butter.
Baked until hot, bubbly and browned on top and serve with either crackers or pita chips.
Jalapeño Popper Spread
Ingredients
- 2- 8 ounce packages cream cheese room temp
- 1/2 c. mayonnaise
- 1/2 c. sour cream
- juice and zest of one lemon
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 cup Asiago cheese grated
- 1- 4 ounce can chopped green chilies
- 1- 4 ounce can sliced jalapeños- double if you like heat (or 2-3 fresh chopped jalapeño peppers
- 6 pieces of bacon fried crisp and crumbled
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup Asiago cheese
- 1/2 stick butter melted
Instructions
-
Mix first 8 ingredients by hand or with a electric mixer and paddle blade until smooth. Stir in the crumbled bacon.
-
You do not need to drain either can of peppers. Spread the dip into a greased 2 quart casserole. Stir in the fried and crumbled bacon pieces.
-
In a bowl mix bread crumbs and the other 1/2 cup of Asiago cheese. Pour melted butter over top crumb mixture and mix well. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a 375° oven for about 20 minutes. You want the top to get browned and the dip to be heated through and bubble gently on the edges. Do not over heat this dish or the mayonnaise with separate and you will have a grease puddle in your dip. Serve with Buttery crackers or toasted pita chips.
-
Serves 15-20.
No Comments