Hot Stuff: Pepper Cheese Squares

I found this great recipe called “Hot Stuff” in the “Vintage Vicksburg” cookbook, sourced to Kathleen Hand Carter of Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

It has 10 eggs but is not eggy and a half cup of flour but not bready. With loads of cheese and your personal degree of heat, this is a pretty light dish that is perfect as party food, a side, or a breakfast delight.

Let’s talk about the heat: the original recipe only uses a 4 oz. can of green chiles, and any heat those chiles may provide kind of gets lost. If you want to start kicking it up, use a 4 oz. can of diced jalapenos instead; add 1-3 TB of your favorite hot sauce; and dot the top with pickled jalapenos.

And about that cheese: it calls for 16 oz. shredded pepper Jack. I recommend that you buy the block and shred it yourself. This makes it a little more time-consuming but bagged shredded cheese may include potato starch or other ingredients to keep the shreds separated, which can, in turn, make it less melty when added to a dish.

Enjoy …

Pepper Cheese Squares

1 stick butter or margarine
10 eggs
½ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 4 oz. can diced chiles or jalapenos
1 – 3 TB of your favorite hot sauce (optional)
1 pint small curd cottage cheese
1 pound pepper Jack cheese, shredded
15 – 20 sliced, pickled jalapenos (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the stick of butter in a 9 x 13 glass casserole dish and put in the oven to let the butter melt.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the eggs. Don’t worry – you will get some clumps, but they will disappear when you add the butter.

Add the can of peppers and the hot sauce, if using, to the egg mixture and stir.

Remove the casserole dish from the oven, swirl the butter across the bottom of the dish, then pour remaining butter into a measuring cup or small bowl. Then, pour butter into the egg mixture while stirring. I’ve been worried about curdling the egg with the hot butter at this stage, but it hasn’t happened so far.

Add cottage cheese and shredded pepper jack cheese while stirring.

Pour the mixture into casserole dish. If you are going to add jalapeno slices, place them in rows across the top. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake from 30 – 40 minutes until top is golden brown.

Allow to cool then slice and serve! These reheat beautifully the next day.