I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your jalapenos over!

I am a big fan of jalapenos. While the pre-sliced ones in the jar will do in a pinch, there is nothing like a fresh jalapeno to give you some appreciation for the power a little pepper can bring. I eat them raw, roasted, sautéed and even dipped in chocolate.

Last December I was spending some time walking around a kitchen supply store and found something I just had to get, so I bought myself a Christmas gift. It was a jalapeno grill rack. So simple, but a great little invention. As you can see in the pictures below, it is merely a piece of stainless steel bent (to create the feet) with 18 quarter sized holes drilled into it. This allows you to stand up the jalapenos while you grill them.

I’ve grilled stuffed jalapenos many times before, but they rarely turn out how I want them to. If I slice them open to remove the ribs and seeds (I love the heat but not everyone in the family likes it that hot), the cheese (or cream cheese) melts and runs out. If I just inject the filling, the seeds remain. The chili pepper grill rack solves the issue by allowing me to remove the seeds and rib while keeping the pepper standing up to keep the filling inside.

As the grill has finally come out to play, I was excited to try it out.

I decided to fill two peppers with a queso cheese and two others with a Santa Fe cream cheese mix.

The rack came with a tool to core out the insides. It generally worked well.

A view from the top.

And the side. The peppers were a little thick to fit deep into the holes. I decided to try anyway.

After a few minutes on the grill I found the big bad wolf had visited and blew them over. While I ate them anyway, the filling had mostly melted out.

Attempt two was with smaller peppers. As they were smaller, it was tougher to get the filling all the way down. I ended up using a food syringe (removed the needle).

The were a little more secure. I put the tops back on them with a toothpick.

Well into cooking they are still upright and some bubbling over of the filling has occurred, but not too bad.

I love how the tips are black. Just peel that away and eat!

I think this would be very easy to make on your own. If you do, I would suggest a variety of hole sizes from quarters through half dollars.