Ben's Day Wednesday

Pepper Jack of All Trades

Posted on by Liz

Ben’s cheese of choice is always pepper jack, these days. He’ll settle for shredder (as he calls shredded cheddar), but his heart belongs to pepper jack. I love it too, so I don’t attempt to tamper with his cheese compass.

For weeks, Ben has been asking for “branding meat” for Ben’s Day Wednesday. As our house is rife with cattle rustlers, we were supplied with a mini branding iron a few years ago to keep the banditos at bay. Ben has learned to fine-tune his meal requests so he doesn’t end up with a branded bagel or eggplant or something. I knew he was driving hard for steak, but I offered hamburgers, since we had patties in the freezer that we could thaw. I sweetened the deal with pepper jack, and we were in business.

Bun, bacon, avocado, pepper jack, beef and bun. Perfection.

If you’re making cheeseburgers, you’ll need to make some bacon. As long as you’ve got bacon, you’d be a fool not to make loaded twice-baked potatoes to accompany your burgers, right? And if you’ve got bacon and pepper jack cheese floating about the kitchen, aren’t you kind of morally obligated to make stuffed jalapeños? Most of the time, I try hard to hold the health line, offsetting Ben’s choices with healthier ones the rest of the week, but if you’re going to do burgers, I say, do them right. Tomorrow is for caramelized cauliflower fettuccini. The day after is for salad and roasted veggie quesadillas. Today, we brand our burgers and eat them with bacon and pepper jack. In the interest of historical accuracy, it should be noted that we made and served green beans with the meal. Had they been languishing in the fridge for two weeks? Maybe. Were they such an afterthought that they didn’t make a single photo. Umm… yes?

Kitchen Confession: Are you sitting down? This was my first time making baked potatoes. In my life. Right now, various friends of similar Germanic background are reeling in denial and disbelief, spud-dering in disgust. Here, Ben pricks the potatoes as the internet advised.

Twice-Baked Loaded Potatoes

4-6 potatoes

Olive oil

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

1/4 cup sour cream

4 scallions, white and light green parts minced

Salt and pepper to taste 

Bacon crumbles

  1. Prick potatoes all over with a fork, rub with oil, wrap in foil, and bake until done. Ours took about 50 minutes at 400º. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise, scoop out potatoes, leaving skins intact.
  2. Place potato skins back in oven (optionally, brushed with oil, butter or bacon grease) for about 5 minutes. 
  3. Meanwhile, mix scooped out part of potato with half of cheese, sour cream, scallions, salt and pepper. Put this filling into the potato skins, top with remaining cheese and bacon, and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
These days, Ben specializes in pepper grinding.

Loaded Jalapeños

4 large jalapeños, stemmed and halved lengthwise, pith and seeds removed

1/4 cup whipped cream cheese

1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1 scallion white and pale green parts minced

Bacon crumbles

  1. Soften jalapeño halves by baking in 400º oven on a foil-lined baking sheet.
  2. Remove, and when cool enough to handle, spoon cream cheese into jalapeños, Top with pepper jack cheese, onions and bacon. Bake about 15 minutes.
Ben tops the jalapeños and potatoes with cheese and bacon.
You can never have too much pepper.
Home. Home on the range.
A picture paints a thousand words. Ben, in a sweeping gesture, wants you to take in the splendor of the meal. We have highly cushy butter-brushed buns. We have two avocados split for the occasion. One burger is branded and the poker’s in the fire. The camera-shy green beans boil/steam in the pot on the far left. Potatoes and jalapeños are in the oven. Pepper jack slices bide their time in the back corner behind the buns. As you can see, it is nearly 7:00, and we are hungry.
When my back was turned, Ben got out ketchup, mayo, salt, sour cream, pickled onions, mustard, buffalo sauce, and BBQ sauce. The Corn Squares photo bomb situation is the result of my cheapness (I scoff at the suckers paying for legit name brand Corn Chex) and Ben’s unwillingness to put all the groceries away. He gets about 90% done and figures he’s done enough. I guess Corn Squares were where he drew the line this week.
Jalapeños on the left, potatoes on the right, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight!
If you, too, are a pepper jack of all trades, attempting to inject cheese into every conceivable situation, we see you. Keep the faith. The burgers, potatoes and jalapeños are your canvas. Pick up the pepper jack and paint!