Appetizers
Dungeness Crab Jalapeño Poppers
Dungeness Crab Jalapeño Poppers
Recipe Notes
- Yield: Makes 24
- Method: Indirect grilling
- Equipment: Toothpicks; chile pepper roasting rack; 1-1/2 cups hardwood smoking chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes, then drained (optional)
Ingredients
- 24 large jalapeño peppers
- 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
- 12 ounces Dungeness crab meat (or other crab meat)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 8 strips thin-sliced bacon, each strip cut crosswise into thirds
Recipe Steps
Step 1: Slice the top off each jalapeño, and using a pepper corer or the blade of a vegetable peeler, carefully remove the seed core from each pepper. Reserve the tops. Arrange the peppers upright in a chile roasting rack.
Step 2: In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, lemon zest, and paprika and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in the crab. Fill each pepper with this mixture. Wrap a strip of bacon around each pepper and secure with a toothpick. Replace the tops.
Step 3: Set up your grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-high. Put the rack with the chile peppers on the grill grate away from heat. Toss the wood chips, if using, on the coals. Smoke-roast until the bacon is browned, the chiles are tender, and the filling is bubbling, 20 minutes. Dig in.
Recipe Tips
If you don’t own a chile roasting rack, slice the chiles in half lengthwise and stuff with the crab-cheese filling; wrap a piece of bacon around each. You will need more bacon—12 strips in all. Lay the stuffed chiles on a grilling grid before grilling.
