Cheese Stuffed Anaheim Chilies

Anaheim chilies are long, thin, and mild if seeds and membranes are removed. If heat is desired remove only the seeds and not the membranes. With seeds and membranes they rank between 500 and 2,500 on the Scoville Scale, just between the banana and jalapeno peppers.

4 green or red Anaheim or New Mexico chilies

1/2 cup grated cheder cheese

1/2 cup cream cheese

4 strips bacon

Combine the cheeses in a food processor and thoroughly blend. Fry the bacon until crisp and drain. Slice the chilies lengthwise splitting the stem. Remove the seeds. Remove the membranes if a mild chili is desired. Stuff the chilies with the cheese mixture.

Place a strip of bacon on top of one half of the chilies. Note that I have used bacon on only half of the chilies, because the chilies are good with or without bacon. I also used store-bought pre-cooked bacon which is much lower in fat. The strips were placed between two pieces of paper towel and microwaved on high for 20 seconds, and then pressed between the towels to remove additional fat. Prepare the grill for indirect cooking with a medium hot fire. Place the chilies on indirect and cook for 15 minutes or longer.

This amount of cooking will result in softened chilies that still have a crunch.