By KAREN MADORIN
Everyone has favorite foods that keep them coming back for more. One of mine is bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. A local restaurant serves 5 on a plate for a reasonable price considering the amount of work required to make them. Sometimes when we go out for supper, that’s all I order besides a drink. I love them so much there are no leftovers.
Since we put in a garden this year, I planted a jalapeño pepper to see how many I’d get and to try them turned into poppers. Years ago, on our hilltop west of Ellis, I grew them but hadn’t discovered the magic that happens when you fill de-seeded green casings withcheddar/cream cheese mix, wrap them in par cooked bacon, and roast them in a hot oven. Once they cool, the feast begins. For patient folk, a quick toss on the grill adds extra pizazz.
Last time we grew these culinary fire bombs, I didn’t know pepper’s capsaicin stays on skin for days and didn’t wear protective gloves when I picked or pickled them. My fingers and hands started burning mid-harvest. It wasn’t painful enough to stop so I continued and assumedsoapy handwashing would solve the problem.
Once in the kitchen, I rinsed and sliced a mixing bowl full of peppers to pack in jars and cover with brine. The heat increased til I was uncomfortable. At that point, I had to finish, so I kept soaping and rinsing my hands as I completed each step in the pickling process. By the time jars cooled on the counter, fiery flames danced from every nerve ending. No matter how much I washed, coated with creams, or dipped my hands in baking soda water, neurons flared. To make a long story longer, the pain lasted three days.
Did that experience make me give up on using hot peppers? No. Did it make me keepprotective gloves on hand. Absolutely! If you’d been at my house last week while I picked,sorted, graded, rinsed, and de-seeded 50 fresh jalapeños, you’d have noticed I wore gloves from beginning to final clean up. At no time did I let bare flesh contact peppers or seeds.
In addition, I opened every kitchen and dining room window to dilute spicy scents emanating from just cleaned peppers. Despite the fresh air, my nose and eyes ran enough to inconvenience me, but not enough to halt operations. Nope, there’d be poppers enough to last a while.
While we were on vacation, some of my peppers turned from green to red. I googled to see if we could eat those. Based on online advice, both red and green jalapeños produce the same amount of heat, so my finished products had a festive Christmas look.
When it came time to sample them, we found red tasted hotter than green--not enough to quit eating them, but enough to limit how many we might sample in one sitting. We don’t know if that was imagination or actual sensation, but red isn’t for wimps.
I don’t have poppers enough to last all winter, but this experiment guarantees jalapeños will grow in the garden next year. And, I’ll have protective gloves on hand for future popper parties.
Karen is a retired teacher, writer, photographer, outdoors lover, and sixth-generation Kansan. After a time away, she’s glad to be home.