Jalapeno Cream Cheese Bacon Poppers

I was visiting some friends last night, and one of them made these baked jalapenos with cream cheese and bacon.

I never had these before, nor even thought about doing this. But seeing that I'm really into spicy foods these days, I was intrigued.

I'm sorry the photos below are of a poor quality, but I only had my cell phone camera.

1. Slice several jalapenos in half, and scoop out the seeds

2. Filled the slices with Philadelphia Cream Cheese

3. Using toothpicks, attach small slices of bacon.

4. Bake in an oven at 400 degrees for about 15-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you like the bacon.

Baking the jalapenos tend to make them less spicy. I didn't really find these to be all that hot, but still very delicious.

Read rest of entry

Lucille's Onion Ring Quesadilla

It seems lately the quesadilla has become my favorite method of consuming leftovers.

I'll take whatever leftovers we have in the fridge, and dump it into a cheese-filled tortilla, and then nuke it for 1 minute. It helps to dab some Cholula sauce in there too.

In this case, we had a box of onion rings from Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que. It's a chain of restaurants in California, Arizona, and Nevada. They have these thinly sliced onion rings, made from red onions, as appetizers. It's comparable to the "Bloomin' Onion" that you get at Outback Steakhouse and other steak joints.

The photo below depicts what I created...


Except after I took the photo, I added another layer of cheese. Then I nuked it for 1 minute.

How did it taste?

It's "ok".

Truthfully, I really didn't know how this was going to taste. I think I put too much cheese on it, because I taste more of the cheese than anything else. And the Cholula sauce was "ok". It would have been better to use BBQ sauce.

This would have actually been better with some thin sliced steak.

So what do you junkfoodies think about the quesadilla as a vehicle for consuming leftovers?

Read rest of entry

Macaroni Cheese Burrito

Hungry after spending the whole morning implementing a new template for Junk Food Blog, I wandered over to the kitchen to see what looked good in the refrigerator.

I found a tupperware container full of my wife's homemade macaroni cheese.

But I also happened to see the bag of flour tortillas.

And that's when my left-brain kicked in, and thought, "Oh yeah, macaroni cheese burritos".

Add to that a sprinkling of my favorite hot sauce, and I had myself some lunch...








Nuke the finished product for about 30 seconds, or until the tortilla is soft and warm, and indulge!

Read rest of entry

Spicing Up Your V8 Juice

For all you V8 juice drinkers, what do you do to spice up your V8?

While I consider myself a junk food junkie, I do like V8. I've been drinking the stuff since I was a kid, and can't seem to stop. I've tried the spicy V8, and V8 Fusion, and the Low Sodium V8. I like them all.

So today, as I reached into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of V8, I noticed the jar of Ortega salsa. And then, a question popped into my head, "What if...?"

So I pulled the salsa out of the refrigerator as well, and dropped three spoonfuls of salsa into the V8 bottle. The bottle was about 2/3 full at the time. Then I shook the bottle thoroughly, and took a swig.

Ummm, not bad.

It's like salsa-flavored V8, just like what you'd expect, but with chunks thrown in.

I'm not sure I'd stick with this however. While it's not bad, I don't think it'll sell.

So I'm thinking now, what else can I do to doctor up my V8? Lemon juice? Tabasco sauce? Pickled jalapeno juice?

If you like to experiment with your V8, let me know what you've found that tastes good.

Read rest of entry

Gallo Salame and Provolone Cheese Snack

I had the munchies late last night, and like a bad boy I found myself rummaging through the refrigerator, and found this package of Gallo Salame & Provolone Cheese Snack.

My wife bought it months ago. I don't know what plans she had for it. Sometimes she buys stuff just because she thinks I might like it. She's all too familiar with Junk Food Blog, and knows that I need material for it.

My first thought was, "I don't feel like having a sandwich". But then an idea hit me, "Who needs bread anyways?"

So I opened up the package, and put a cheese and salami together, folded it over, and voila! A sandwich.

I guess it's similar to having a hamburger without the bun. This is just a "low-carb" salami and cheese sandwich.


The package actually says "Snack Pack", so I feel better that I ate this to satisfy a snacking urge. Even if it was already past midnight.

Read rest of entry

Guacamole Pepperoncini Burger Patties

Today I discovered a new way to kill off some old food laying around in the refrigerator. And it tastes pretty damn good too. Guacamole Pepperoncini Burger Patties (Guacacini Patties)...



The story goes...

This afternoon I wandered down to the kitchen to find something to eat. I opened up the freezer and noticed this package of hamburger patties that we had for about a year. So, I decided to grill them all up on my BBQ (eight of them). I found a package of guacamole that my wife bought a couple weeks ago, and a jar of pepperoncinis that we've also had for about a year.

After grilling the patties, I cut one of them up into bite-sized pieces. Then I slathered on some guacamole. Then I pulled out a pepperoncini and laid it on top. I forked the thing into my mouth and knocked myself out. This is freakin' good!

First, I love hamburger meat. Two, the guacamole adds a layer of smoothness to the meat. The pepperoncini adds the bit of spicyness. I'd recommend using the smaller, softer ones.

In the end I ate three patties this way, and killed off about 12 pepperoncinis. I didn't use any buns. Now, I would not normally eat that many pepperoncinis because such a volume can have nasty after effects. But in this fashion, it couldn't keep my hands off of them. It's about five hours post-consumption, and my belly is still feeling the burn. My wife killed off a few patties, and I gave the other two to the dogs.

So there you go my fellow junk food junkies, a way to kill off some freezer-burnt patties, and eat like a gourmet.

Read rest of entry

Wholly Guacamole Gridiron Game Time Dip

Guacamole maker, Wholly Guacamole, of Fort Worth, TX, is offering up a special chip dip recipe for football fans to dip into while they watch their beloved football teams take the field.

Gridiron Game Time Dip looks about as good as any.

I absolutely cannot make guacamole, though I have tried many times. It always comes out tasting like mushed avocadoes instead of guacamole, if that makes any sense. That's why companies like Wholly Guacamole exist, so that culinary screw-ups like me can eat the green stuff too.

I may have to try this recipe (or get the wife to make it for me), and see if it makes watching a Chargers game anymore palatable...

Wholly Gridiron Game Time Dip

Ingredients
-- 1 Tbsp butter
-- 1/2 cup red bell pepper
-- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
-- 2, 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
-- 2 tsp fresh chopped jalapeno peppers
-- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
-- 1 cup salsa
-- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
-- 14 oz Wholly Guacamole
-- 1/2 cup sour cream
-- 1 bag tortilla chips

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in skillet; add peppers and onion, Cook over medium heat until onion is softened. (4 minutes). Stir in beans, jalapenos and cumin. Cook until heated.

2. Transfer 1 cup of bean mixture to a food processor, cover and process until smooth. Return blended mixture to remaining mixture and stir to combine. Spread onto a 11x8 baking dish. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

3. Just before serving, layer over the bean mixture, salsa, cheese and top with Wholly Guacamole.

4. Spoon sour cream into resealable plastic bag. Snip off corner and pipe sour cream over the guacamole to resemble yard lines on a football field.

Visit Wholly Guacamole online at...
http://www.whollyguac.com/

Read rest of entry

Turkey Stuffing Made From Burgers

White Castle, the famed hamburger chain, is offering their Thanksgiving Turkey Stuffing recipe that's made from their own hamburgers.

The recipe is actually a tradition that started 15 years ago, and one that probably all die-hard junk foodies ought to try sometime.

Recipe for White Castle Turkey Stuffing

10 White Castle hamburgers, no pickles
1 1/2 tsp. ground sage
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
3/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
1/4 cup chicken broth

In a large mixing bowl, tear the burgers into pieces and add diced celery and seasonings. Toss and add chicken broth. Stuff cavity of turkey just before roasting. It makes about 9 cups (enough for a 10 to 12 pound turkey). Note: Allow one (1) hamburger for each pound of turkey, which is the equivalent of 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.

I imagine you could use burgers from just about any fast food joint, but White Castle burgers are in fact unique.

Don't have a White Castle near you? They also sell their burgers frozen at grocery stores across the country. Visit their store locator here:
http://www.whitecastle.com/_pages/Locate.asp

Read rest of entry