Baked Stuffed Jalapeños

Ingredients

• 12  jalapeño peppers (see Recipe Note)
• 0.3 cup onion minced
• 0.3 cup cilantro leaves fresh chopped
• 0.8 cup cream cheese 
• 1.5 teaspoons cumin 
• 1 teaspoon salt to taste (more or less )
• 2 ounces jack cheese cut into 2 1/2-inch long batons
• 0.3 cup bacon cooked chopped
• 0.5 cup jack cheese shredded cut into 2 1/2-inch long batons
• 1 teaspoon oregano dried

Equipment

• baking sheet
• oven
• aluminum foil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Prepare the jalapeños for stuffing: You can either slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise or you can slice off the top one-third (lengthwise) of each jalapeño to make a boat shape out of each pepper.
3. The halved jalapeños will go further (twice as many stuffed peppers), but you can put more filling into the boat-shaped peppers. Your choice.
4. If you choose to make the boats, you can mince the tops and add them to the filling if you want some extra heat, or save them for another recipe.
5. In either case, scrape out all the seeds and ribs from each jalapeño with a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works great).
6. Mix together all the filling ingredients except the jack cheese batons.
7. Stuff the jalapeños: Pack the filling into the peppers and nestle a baton of jack cheese onto the filling of each one.
8. Bake: Arrange the peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 375°F for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned, and the peppers are cooked.
9. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.