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.

Herbs n pavs n chillies n things

Our holidays are fast coming to an end but the week at home has been super productive. The aquaponics is up and running, no fish have died, gardening has been done, pavlova has been baked and consumed (yes, it was consumable) and there has been much drinking, dart playing, barbecuing and The Bachelor watching (ok, not so productive, but sometimes it's just too hot to do anything else).

My wheelbarrow herb garden has been replanted as the chives had died, thyme had gone to flower, coriander had all been used and the rosemary was the last herb standing. 

I saw the idea for a wheelbarrow herb garden in a gardening magazine at work one day and was lucky to find a wheelbarrow on Trademe on the North Shore for $2. I set this up a few months ago and it has worked well - all it needed was a few holes drilled in the bottom. The coriander has been a bit disappointing but I think it needed a deeper pot as they have long roots so have now planted these in pots. In the wheelbarrow I replanted the rosemary, added some oregano, some new thyme and some dill.

New chives went in a separate pot and all components have gone out the back door. I think the key to a successful herb garden, and vege garden actually, is using what you grow. It is easy to plant loads of different veges but you have to use them. And I think the key to using herbs is having them easily accessible to the kitchen. It is dead easy for me to pop out the back door and snip exactly what I need (especially true in winter when it is just that bit harder going out into the cold and dark when you're cooking dinner).

We also cut back the tomato plants quite a bit as the suckers and dead leaves had got a tad out of control. One plant was fully pulled and the others are looking a lot barer but much healthier. There was also a ton of ripe toms I will look to do something with tomorrow. The strawberries have also gone as weren't producing fruit any more and some new lettuces and basil has been planted.

The chilli plants look amazing! There are tons of Jalapenos, Thai chillies,  Habaneros, Fataliis and Bhut Jolokias and I am thinking of many ways of how I will use them.

Jalapeno

Bhut Jolokia

Fatalii

There was a tiny Habanero ripe today so Elliot and I decided to try some.

It did not go well. I had a quarter of this tiny devil and it was painful. 500 ml of chocolate milk later (milk or yoghurt is meant to help and seeing as plain milk is disgusting, chocolate milk it has to be) and I was still in pain. I had tried some Jalapeno earlier and it wasn't too bad but this Habanero was mental. It is so tiny in comparison to what else is growing and not a patch on the heat of the Bhut Jolokia, so there are going to be some crazy hot times ahead...

The Jalapeno and miniature but evil Habanero

In other food-related news, Elliot and I had lunch at Mexico in Takapuna on Thursday (we had been to the zoo and surprisingly decided to forego the sad looking $5 pies and chicken nuggets they had on offer). Mexico is a newish chain of Mexican restaurants in Auckland and this is the first one I have been to. It is not traditional Mexican fare but is cheap, has an awesome, funky atmosphere and decor and more importantly is yummy!

Elliot had the Achitoe chicken, citrus cured red onion, mint with salsa borracha quesadilla and I had the braised beef brisket in coconut and ancho with green onion, chilli and papaya soft taco and we shared crispy potaotes in celery lime salt with spicy tomatillo dressing. It was all so good. The quesadilla was cheesy and chickeny and the accompanying salsa was spicy and delicious; the beef was tender, the chilli perfectly balanced with the cocnut and papaya and the potatoes were a crispy and limey-salty delight. The food came in about five minutes, the beer was cold and at $42 for us both including two beers, it was a bargain. I will definitely be back to try the other menu items. They also had a good range of hot sauces on the table to try.

The beer was goooooood - especially when it's 27° outside 

Chicken quesadilla and beef taco

Good range of hot sauces 

Other foodie bits this week included using more of my chipotle sauce mixed with mayo in a potato salad that we had with barbecued chicken, zucchinis and mushroooms done on the barbie. The potatoes were out of our garden and I mixed them with red capsicum, red onion and chives (all from our garden as well) with the chipotle mayo (to the mayo mix I also added a little bit of cream to make it a bit runnier to go through the potatoes a bit better and some lemon juice). Yummo - and rather tasty with a cold glass of rosé.

Chipotle potato salad with capsicum, red onion and chives

And now, the pavlova... after a few helpful hints from my friend Jennie, I did everything I was told. The egg whites were at room temperature and the sugar was added painfully slowly, the mixture looked good - fluffy, shiny and I was stoked when it went in the oven. 45 minutes later and it had sunk a bit in the middle and cracked a tiny bit but I was pretty pleased with it for my first attempt (and the sinking and cracks was nothing some whipped cream and berries couldn't hide).

The first cut into it was the real teller and I was pleasantly surprised. Marshmallowie and soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. It tasted good and all who ate it enjoyed it... especially my favourite little monkey...

Basil & chilli pesto

Due to lack of use while on holiday, our basil was growing rampant and started going to flower. I decided to pull it, use what I could and replant some new stuff when doing the rest of my herbs (which was planned for today but due to an incident with a garden stake and my thigh, will be on hold until tomorrow).

I had quite a bit of basil to use and some parmesan cheese in the fridge so decided to make a pesto. I of course decided to add chilli to it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh basil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Juice of half a lime

Method:

• Put basil, garlic, chllies, parmesan and pine nuts into a food processor and blend until combined.
• Slowly drizzle the oil in while running the processor until combined.
• Add salt and pepper to season and lime juice (most pesto recipes don't use this but I think an acid was needed so added it and was glad I did).

I was disappointed by the level of heat in the end product despite trying one of the chillies before I started and it being rather hot. It may be the amount of olive oil needed for the pesto cut through the heat a bit.

I added some chilli infused olive oil I had to heat it up which worked a bit but would definitely add more chillies next time.

I used the pesto to make a pasta salad by simply stirring it through some spiral pasta (spiral pasta is great as all the pesto clings onto all the curly bits). Stir it through just after you've cooked the pasta as it goes much better through a hot pasta and helps the pasta absorb the saucy goodness.

I put it in the fridge to cool (but you could have it as a hot pasta) and had it for dinner as a side with corn and tomato salsa and chipotle chicken. For a more substantial pasta salad you could add cherry tomatoes and chunks of salami - would make a yummy lunch.

The corn salsa is an absolute favourite of mine. I used fresh corn cut of the cob this time but often make it with frozen corn kernels and it is almost as good. It's a really simple and easy alternative to salad and is great as a side with Mexican dishes.

Ingredients:

• The kernels from one cob of corn (easily enough for two people)
• Handful or so of cherry tomatoes - halved 
• Quarter of a red onion - diced finely
• Handful of fresh coriander - chopped
• Juice of a lime
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

• Cook the corn (I did it in the microwave for about 8 minutes - was hoping to char it on the BBQ which would have added some fabulous flavour but the wind was not agreeing with me). 
• Once cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off the cob, and leave them to cool completely.
• Mix the corn with the tomatoes, coriander, red onion, lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
• Devour.

The chipotle chicken we had with it is dead easy as I had bought some amazing chipotle sauce from the Takapuna markets last weekend - a guy with a company called Mex U Crazy (I also got some yummy sesame and pumpkin seed sauce/paste, he also does a mean Habanero sauce and lots of yummy salsas. No website but you can't miss him at Takapuna markets on Sundays).

I marinated the chicken for a couple of hours (I prefer chicken thighs as they are super juicy) and then seared it in a electric frypan, turned the heat down, put the lid on and let them cook through (about 10 minutes). Again, was hoping to do them on the barbie but the weather did not allow it.

Dollop some sour cream on top with some fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime and enjoy. And you will enjoy this. Even if hot and spicy is not your thing, chipotle is worth a go. Trust me.

For anyone not yet introduced to the chipotle - it is a must! Chipotles are dried and smoked jalapenos. They are something I cannot wait to make myself. We have a food dehydrator ready for our jalapenos and Elliot's friend Hunt has a smoker we can use.

Chipotles to eat on their own are not great - kind of like eating hardened ash but cut up and put into sauces are fantastic and chipotle mayonnaise is simply heavenly. It is smokey and hot and sweet and creamy all in one and if you have not had it, you need to make that happen. Now.

The La Morena brand of Mexican food stuffs are now in most supermarkets and they do a great chipotle sauce. You can add mayo (Best Foods of course) to it and make it as chipotley or mayonnaisey as you like (they also do THE BEST CHEESE STUFFED JALAPENOS IN SALSA - I had to do that in capitals because I am yelling at you about how awesome they are!)

I added mayo to the sauce I got from the markets and had it on a chicken and salad wrap for lunch yesterday. Mmmmmmmmmm!

Wraps are a bit of a staple in this house and tonight was open falafel kebab/wrap things (yes, in between the dart competition Elliot and I have waged against each other, I did stop to make dinner). I used the leftover pesto by simply adding it to some lite sour cream and putting atop the falafel, salad stack with some hot sauce. Who needs to go to the local kebab shop?? (Although I am ashamed to say I used a store bought falafel mix - making my own is certainly something to try next).

Tomorrow I am tasked with making a pavlova for a whanau dinner (I am advised there is no back up dessert so pressure is on). Have never made one before but how wrong can one go with a trusty Edmonds recipe???? Will soon find out...