Tuesday, June 30, 2009

What Are Stuffed Jalapenos

Jalapenos can be stuffed with a combination of ingredients.


Stuffed jalapenos are little peppers that are cut in half lengthwise and packed with ingredients like meat and cheese. They can be served before a meal to open up the appetite, and a tasty salad dressing can be placed on the side for dipping. Cooking methods for stuffed jalapenos include baking, grilling and broiling.


Identification


Jalapeno peppers can be identified by their dark green color, although some full-grown jalapeno peppers are red. They are approximately 2 inches long, and they are considered a hot pepper. A stuffed jalapeno looks like a halved pepper with a mound of stuffing in the center. You can also identify stuffed jalapenos by the slice of bacon wrapped around each half, as bacon is another ingredient that is sometimes used.


Stuffed Jalapeno Facts


Jalapeno peppers are a type of chili pepper. They are high in vitamin C, and one supplies you with 16.6 mg of this vitamin. The calorie content of a jalapeno pepper is 4. The point at which the seeds inside the jalapeno pepper meet with the white membrane is where most of the heat in the chili pepper lies. There is very little fat in a jalapeno pepper and no cholesterol, but stuffing a jalapeno pepper with meat and cheese will add fat and cholesterol to this appetizer.


Types of Stuffed Jalapenos


Depending on your preference, you can stuff jalapeno peppers with fish, meat, cheese or a combination of meat and cheese. You can use pork sausages for the stuffing and add mozzarella cheese if you like, but you can also mix in other types of cheese you feel will add delicious flavor to stuffed jalapenos. Plain cream cheese can also be used as a stuffing for jalapenos, alone or mixed with other types of cheese. Imitation crab meat is used as a stuffing for jalapeno peppers, too.


Warning


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, jalapeno peppers were the source of a salmonella outbreak in 2008. Salmonella is a bacterium that can be transferred through feces that comes from humans or animals. Sometimes certain fruits and vegetables are contaminated with the bacteria. To prevent illness caused by salmonella, vegetables such as jalapeno peppers should be washed very well. Thoroughly cooking vegetables also helps to kill salmonella bacteria. Another warning about jalapeno peppers is they can cause irritation if you touch them and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth. To prevent skin irritation, slip on a pair of rubber gloves before handling hot peppers such as jalapenos.







Tags: jalapeno peppers, jalapeno pepper, meat cheese, chili pepper, other types, other types cheese