AMATEUR KITCHEN

The idea for this recipe comes from my Uncle Virg who serves up his pheasants by wrapping it around a jalapeño along with an onion and bacon. I thought I’d kick it up just a notch by adding some creamy cheese to the mix. This appetizer will keep your guests coming back for thirds, maybe even fourths.

Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 12-15 minutes
Makes: 30 
Level: Easy

Ingredients:
2 cups Pheasant, finely chopped (about 4 breasts)
2 tbsp Butter
1 Garlic Clove, minced
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
4 oz Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 tsp Dried Basil
2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Celery Salt
2 Scallions, thinly sliced
Salt and Pepper, to taste
15 Jalapeños, halved and seeded
10 Bacon Slices, cut into thirds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large skillet over medium high heat add in the butter and chopped pheasant. Cook until pheasant is almost no longer pink, about 6 minutes, then add in the garlic and cook until pheasant is completely cooked through. While pheasant is cooking it’s a good time to prepare the jalapeños by cutting them in half and removing the seeds and ribs, set jalapeños aside.

Place cooked pheasant in a large mixing bowl and add in the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, basil, cumin, celery salt and scallions; stir together until all ingredients are combined. Taste the mixture and season accordingly with salt and pepper. 

Stuff jalapeños with pheasant and cheese mixture, then wrap bacon around the jalapeño. Place the bacon wrapped jalapeño on a baking sheet that has a cooling rack on top to allow for the bacon to crisp around the entire jalapeño. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until bacon becomes crisp and brown. Enjoy!

*If not serving pheasant a great substitute is Italian sausage.

Jalapeno stuffed pheasant poppers