Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños, My Boating Tradition

Peppers ready to assemble and a cold beer while cooking of course

Wrapped and ready to grill

Hot and Crispy off the Grill

It all started during one sunset at anchor in a quiet bay on the Island of Lanai, Hawaii. My cousin prepared grilled bacon-wrapped jalapenos with a melted cream cheese filling served up with a stiff dark rum and pineapple drink. Wow- I'm hooked now. Grilled peppers have become a tradition on my boat since that trip a few years back. Just this last weekend with good weather, I cooked dinner on my boat and naturally made grilled bacon peppers again. They are very easy to prep ahead of time, and keep cold in the fridge or cooler until ready to grill. Try them on your own home grill. One note on the hotness of the peppers is that they can be very hot when raw, but with precooking and removing the seed membrane, they will be much less hot.

My Grilled Jalapenos 
Ingredients:
Jalapeño peppers, large size
Bacon strips, smoked is best
Cream cheese, regular or light
Toothpicks to secure

Method:
1. Make a slit down the side of the raw pepper and careful remove all the seeds and whitish membrane.
2. At this point they can be boiled or fire charred to remove skin and precook.
3. When cool and cleaned, stuff slit with cream cheese.
4. Lay a strip of bacon on a cutting board and tightly roll up around stuffed pepper.
5. Secure with toothpick, they are ready to grill.
6. Grill on medium heat and turn son they brown evenly.
7. Remove toothpick and serve.

Note: Wearing plastic gloves will keep your fingers and anything you might touch, from burning when cleaning seeds.

Simple Chicken Salad

The best is often simple with only a few ingredients and tonight it's a chicken salad. A chicken breast is marinated in soy and ginger then grilled till cooked through, allowed to cool, then sliced. I tossed with shaved carrots, arugula, cilantro in a basic soy vinaigrette with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds over the top.