2016 the year of the jalapeño

It's not really the year of the jalapeño, it just so happened that the first things I cooked on New Year's Day featured it. 

Julia needed to bring a dish to a party and decided on Jalapeño Popper dip. There's hundreds of recipes out there and mine is no different really. I like it much better with fresh jalapeños rather than jarred. 

6 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced

16 oz softened cream cheese

1 cup mayo

1/2 cup grated Parmesan 

A splash of salsa verde or a can of green chiles

1,tsp garlic powder

1tsp ground pepper 

1 1/2 cups shredded Jack and/or cheddar

1 cup panko

1 tbs butter

First I lightly toast panko with butter and set aside. Mix remaining ingredients with a potato masher until combined. Spread into a large enough dish so that it's not very deep and sprinkle on panko. You want a lot of brown, toasty surface. A pie plate works great for this. 

I don't have a picture of the finished product but you will bake this at 400 for approximately 30 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips.

Next up was a snack for us at home for later in the day, a recipe from buzzfeed for slow cooker chicken jalapeño taquitos.  http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2014/09/slow-cooker-jalapeno-popper-chicken-taquitos.html

It was pretty good! 

I will switch it up next time by eliminating the water in the slow cooker and using salsa verde or tomatillos. It was just too much liquid. All in all it was very tasty. 

The new year started on a good note and there was even enough time to squeeze in a few embroidery projects while binge watching Son's of Anarchy. The two things couldn't be more extreme! 

Balance, it's all about balance. 

Happy New Year!