Jalapeno poppers

The day had come. The day we had dreamed of. We had jalapenos big enough. We had cheese in the fridge. We had tummies to fill and we had a grotty Waitangi Day indoors.

The day saw a flurry of activity in the Dally/Brooks household with me whipping up a number of things in the kitchen and Elliot tinkering away with plant cloning, seed propagating and hydroponic system tendering.

Our new hydroponic system.
Blog on this coming soon...

The popper process started last weekend when Elliot and I had jalapeno poppers at Hallertau (the only place in Auckland I have found them) and the next day decided it was finally time to make our own so that we didn't have to make the half hour trip and spend $14 just to a get a taste of these again.

The Hallertau poppers were still slightly crunchy but definitely not as much as a raw jalapeno so we thought we should pickle the jalapenos slightly before using them for poppers. Raw jalapenos are also fairly bitter so really think they need pickling or maybe blanching first before being able to eat them.

We already had a jar of jalapenos pickling so decided we could just hollow some freshly picked ones out and chuck them in the jar for a couple of days ready to fill n fry.

So we cut the tops off six medium sized jalapenos and hollowed out the placenta and seeds and plopped them into the pickling jar.

Four days later they were the perfect firmness and didn't have the bitter taste of raw ones so we were good to go. They were drained on paper towels to remove the excess pickling liquid while the rest of the ingredients were prepped.

2 Tb cream cheese
2 Tb grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
2 Tb milk
A bit of flour
Some panko breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper

Mix the cream cheese and cheddar cheese together. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Put the egg and milk whisked together in one shallow bowl, the flour in another and the breadcrumbs in another - forming a production line.

Fill the jalapenos the best way you know how - there was no way we were getting this in with a spoon so I put it in a small sandwich bag and cut a corner off to make a piping bag.

Dredge the filled jalapenos firstly in egg, then into the flour then into the egg again and lastly into the breadcrumbs.

While doing that heat about 1cm of vegetable oil in a saucepan (or use a deep fryer or frying pan) until very hot. I'm not one for all those fancy thermometers and what not, so when the oil looks nice and shiny chuck a few breadcrumbs in and if they fry quickly and turn brown the oil is ready.

Very carefully place the jalapenos in the oil (we did three at a time so not to overcrowd the pan) and flip over after they turn golden brown on the bottom. Make sure all sides are nice and brown (including the top) and remove and drain on paper towels. Note the whole frying process took about two minutes - they do not need long at all.

Eat immediately with chipotle mayo (chipotle sauce and mayo mixed together - if you have read this blog before you will we always have some on hand).

Words cannot express how amazing these are. They were hot and crunchy and spicy and salty and just incredible. The coating was a lot better and crispier than the Hallertau ones and the mixture was awesome and creamy and cheesy and they are incredibly moreish.

Thank goodness we have more jalapenos on the way. I'm in love.