REGGIE'S CHICKEN JALAPENO APPETIZER

If you read my newspaper column last week, you no doubt noticed the "teaser" I put in it, about checking out my new blog for a fun new recipe. And as a girl who lives up to her promises, here it is: Inlet NY's Reggie Chambers' Chicken Jalapeno Appetizer! I made this for the very first time today, and as we speak I have two very hungry college girls in my kitchen, wolfing it down by the cracker-full. Sooooo yummy and cheesy and a little bit spicy, too. I'd say this would be the perfect little dish to bring to a New Year's party! As always, I'll give you the whole recipe at the end of this post, but here's what you need to get started:

You know what I especially love about recipes like this one? The fact that it is truly a "dump" bowl recipe; you just chop everything up and dump it all in one single bowl, then mix. Especially great if your brain is as addled as mine these days. Reggie starts by sauteing a boneless skinless chicken breast half in some olive oil, then shredding it, like this:

( I must confess that I cheated a little here; I needed some shredded chicken for a recipe later on in the week, so I just roasted 4 breasts in a little olive oil and salt and pepper, at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.)

Next you need to finely dice about 1/4 cup of green bell pepper. And it's taken me 47 years of hard living to learn the proper way to cut a bell pepper (I think Ina Garten showed this once on her show): If you slice the bell pepper down the SIDES, you avoid all the seeds, and get the most "meat" out of your vegetable! Sort of like this, but on all four sides:

Next the Jalapeno pepper. If you are very smart you will wear some plastic gloves when you do this. If you don't, and you happen to touch your nose or your eyes or even your lips anytime in the next hour or so, you'll know WHY! Also, the hottest part of the Jalapeno is the seeds, so you can get those out with a quick swipe of your knife:

Next, add your lemon juice, a couple splashes of some hot sauce (I used Tabasco, but any kind will do), an 8oz. block of room temperature cream cheese and maybe some salt. Start mixing!:

Then you can put the whole hot mess into a pretty oven proof baking dish--my favorite neighbor gave me this one, and I use it for serving also:

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Voila! You'll get a warm and gooey and yummy hors d'oerve (SO sure I spelled that incorrectly!) to serve with some crackers or maybe a sliced baguette. I also topped mine with some chopped parsley for color:

Enjoy! And thank you, Reggie!

Here's the recipe:

Reggie's Chicken Jalapeno Appetizer

1 chicken breast, cooked in olive oil and shredded

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup green bell pepper

2 tblsp. minced Jalapeno peppers

1 tblsp. lemon juice

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. hot sauce (or, to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer to an oven proof baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.