Spicy Poppers

Another great recipe from the Taste of Home Cooking School! These jalapeno poppers are delicious and the addition of the crescent dough takes away a little of the kick so that they aren't as spicy.

Fire level: orange-red

Crescent Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

• 4 jalapeno chiles
• 1/3 cup Boursin cheese with garlic and herbs
• 8 slices packaged precooked bacon, halved
• 1 can (8 oz.) crescent dinner rolls
• 1/2 cup pineapple or fruit salsa for dipping

Directions:

STEP 1: Prepare your peppers

Destem and Deseed the chiles. The more seeds you leave in, the spicier the chiles will be. Cut each chile lengthwise, and then lengthwise again, creating four long jalapeno chile pieces from each pepper.

STEP 2: Prep your poppers

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of cheese into each chile quarter. Wrap a half slice of bacon around each stuffed chile quarter.

STEP 3: Wrap your poppers

On a cutting board, unroll the crescent dough. It should show 8 triangles. Cut each triangle in half from largest corner, creating 16 pieces. Place the chile, cheese side down, onto the middle of the dough triangle. Fold one point of triangle over filling, fold two remaining points over the first point. Place all of the poppers on ungreased cookie sheet.

STEP 4: Cook your poppers

Bake the poppers 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with the fruit salsa and it will cut out some of the spice. Enjoy! They are quite tasty.

Beautiful Appetizer for the Holidays

Some friends and I went to a Taste of Home Cooking school a couple months ago and we witnessed a lot of yummy dishes being prepared. One appetizer in our recipe booklet stuck out to me and I made it over the Thanksgiving holiday. It looked beautiful on the table and is perfect for Holiday get togethers.

Fire level: yellow

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 10 bacon strips
• 20 large fresh basil leaves
• 20 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used precooked frozen shrimp and they worked just fine)
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup finely crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

STEP 1: Prepare your shrimp

Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise; set aside. Wrap a basil leave around each shrimp. Wrap a piece of bacon around each; secure with a toothpick.

STEP 2: Bake the shrimp

Place all of the shrimp onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for around 15 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

STEP 3: Flavor the shrimp

Brush with barbecue sauce; sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 2-4 minutes more or until they are heated through.

If you want to increase the fire level you can buy a spicy barbecue sauce. The presentation of these is beautiful. Spread them out on a nice serving dish and heat up some of the barbecue sauce for dipping. Enjoy!