These Chorizo and Medjool Dates-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers are the first poppers I have ever created – or even tried! – that I felt would be right at home on the menu of almost any fine dining restaurant.
There is a very good reason for that…
Chorizo and Medjool Dates-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers
Jalapeño Poppers are traditionally party and bar food. Delicious, magical, satisfying – but not high-end dining. The reason these Chorizo and Medjool Dates-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers would be right at home in almost any high-end restaurant is that they are adapted from a dish from the acclaimed high-end Chicago restaurant, Avec.
I haven’t had the good fortune yet to have eaten at Avec, but as soon as I saw their recipe for Chorizo-Stuffed Dates with Piquillo Pepper Sauce in Time Out Chicago, I decided I had to make it. And I did.
Click HERE now to make Avec’s Chorizo-Stuffed Dates with Piquillo Pepper Sauce Recipe – Coming Soon.
Chorizo and Medjool Dates-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers Recipe
Even though the Chorizo-Stuffed Dates are delicious, I’ll tell you the truth, I am not a huge date fan. I like them – just in much smaller portions than I got with these. But the chorizo sausage inside, the bacon outside and the piquillo pepper sauce were all wonderful. So full of flavor. With just a pinch of a date in a mouthful, I knew this combination could be a winner for me – and maybe for everyone.
Well, it didn’t take long for my mind to get around to the perfect solution – chopping up the date and including just a small amount mixed into the chorizo sausage – and the perfect vehicle to carry the sweet, savory goodness to our mouths – you guessed it, a jalapeño.
So going in I already knew this recipe would be a winner. But I was totally unprepared for just how delicious it would be. Don’t take my word for it. Make a batch and see for yourself. Chorizo and Medjool Dates Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers are amazing.
Note – I totally suggest you make the Piquillo Pepper Sauce. But if you don’t feel like making it or don’t have time to, these taste almost as good sitting in a good store-bought marinara sauce. Just make sure you buy a jar of a really good one – to complement your high-end Jalapeño Poppers. 😉
The tomato/pepper sauce recipe below should be enough to do about 4 to 6 plates. Double if needed.
Chorizo and Medjool Dates-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers Recipe
These Chorizo and Medjool Dates-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers are the first poppers I have ever created - or even tried! - that I felt would be right at home on the menu of almost any fine dining restaurant.There is a very good reason for that...
Ingredients (See Box Above, "IMPORTANT - About Our Recipes" for Information about Quantities)
- Jalapeño Peppers
- Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
- Cream Cheese
- Medjool Dates about 1 date per every 6 jalapeño poppers (If you prefer a much sweeter, stickier popper, increase this to 2 or more. But be careful - A little date flavor goes a long way - for me, anyway.)
- Spanish-Style Chorizo Sausage See Note 1 below
- Bacon for wrapping
- Large grain raw Turbinado Sugar to sprinkle
- 2 tablespoons Oil for cooking
- 4 cloves Garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 Shallots peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 jar Roasted Piquillo Peppers drained (or use any Roasted Red Peppers, drained) (See Note 2 below)
- 1 14.5- ounce can good-quality Tomatoes or equivalent homemade canned Tomatoes, if you are lucky enough to have some.
- Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cut the jalapeños into a boat or canoe cut. (Click the links above to see how to do a Boat Cut or a Canoe Cut.)
- Place the jalapeños on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in preheated oven. Cook for about 10 minutes. (Skip this step if you prefer your finished jalapeños to be more raw and crunchy.)
- While jalapeños are cooking, remove the seeds from the Madjool dates. Roughly chop into small pieces.
- Place chorizo sausage in a small bowl.
- Add date pieces and mix well. Set aside.
- Remove jalapeños from oven and allow to cool slightly so you can handle them.
- Add cream cheese to each jalapeño to cover the bottom, leaving a concave "well" to place other ingredients. (Click the link above to see pictures of this step, if the instructions are unclear to you.) Set jalapeños aside.
- Form a small bit of the chorizo mixture with your hands to fit into a jalapeño. Continue with all jalapeños.
- Wrap each jalapeño with bacon.
- Place jalapeños back on cookie sheet.
- Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.
- Add garlic and shallots. Sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add peppers and tomatoes. Reduce heat and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the liquid has mostly evaporated.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Allow the sauce to cool slightly.
- Then purée the sauce until almost smooth but still with some body. (Think thin salsa texture.) (A handheld immersion blender works great, but a countertop blender is fine.) Set aside.
When Ready to Serve
- Place the jalapeños in the oven and reheat the sauce, to warm, on the stove top.
- Cook jalapeños, watching closely, until bacon is done, about 15 - 20 minutes. Check to make sure jalapeños and bacon are done to your liking. If not, place back in oven for more time.
- Remove from oven.
- Divide the sauce among small plates.
- Add 1 - 4 jalapeños to the sauce.
- Serve hot.
Note 1 - Make sure to buy uncured, fresh chorizo sausage rather than the salami-like cured kind.
Note 2 - Specialty stores generally carry jars of piquillo peppers, but if you can’t find them, substitute any roasted red peppers for the sauce.
Recipe is original recipe inspired by the Chorizo-Stuffed Medjool Dates recipe served at Avec Restaurant in Chicago. That recipe appeared in TimeOut Chicago and on the TimeOut Chicago Website. Additional Information Courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission
