10.19.2010

Jalapeno Poppers

Back in college, my friends and I looked forward to that one month a year when Sonic would have half price jalapeno poppers. Growing up, I had never really eated jalapenos, especially jalapenos that hadn't been chopped up and put into something else, and these were amazing! As I got older, of course I realized that the poppers were really unhealthy, so I stopped eating them, until I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

4 oz neufchatel cheese
3 oz grated sharp cheddar
2 oz grated mozzarella
1/8 cup sour cream
7-8 jalapenos
1 egg
1 Tlbs milk
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 Tlbs dried parsley
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Wash the peppers and bring a small pan of water to a rolling boil. Drop the peppers into the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes. Then put them under running cold water to blanch them. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, slice them lengthwise and remove the seeds, membranes, and stems. Mix the neufchatel, mozzarella, cheddar and sour cream together in a bowl. In another small bowl, mix the egg and the milk (I put the milk and egg in a bowl with a tight lid, then shake it until well mixed). In another small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Take one half of a pepper, dip the skin side in the egg/milk mixture, then in the breadcrumbs, and place it in a pan. Repeat with all the peppers. Then take a spoon (or a plastic bag with the corner cut out) and put the cheese mixture in each of the peppers. Sprinkle the remainder of the breadcrumb mixture on top of the cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

This is pretty good as is, but when I make it again, I will increase the amount of grated cheese and reduce the amount of neufchatel cheese. I think the filling is a little too creamy, but that is my personal taste. This is not going to taste like fried poppers, but it is crunchy on the outside, and definitely is pretty close to the fried popper feel. The original recipe called for mayonnaise instead of sour cream, but I hate mayo, so I never have it in the house.

Rating: 4/5
Why? Nothing can replace the serious crunch of the Sonic poppers, but I do like these quite a lot. It is an excellent way to use leftover jalapenos (because I always end up with too many) and they make a great snack, as they are easy to freeze and reheat.

4 comments:

chrissy said...

May I add to please use gloves when cutting up jalapenos. It will prevent your fingertips from burning for hours later - sometimes up to 24 hours depending on sensitivity.

This happened to me twice and since then I have learned. The first time I didn't realize it was from the jalapenos, but the second time it clicked. My fingertips were on fire and not much helped other than just waiting it out even with all of my online searching for remedies.

By the way, I love your recipe for these jalapenos poppers and hope to make it soon! I have a few more peppers from my garden before it gets to cold.

Chrissy

Me said...

This looks really good! I am such a visual person, in the back of my mind I alwasy wanted to do something kind of like this, but now I "saw" it, so it is no longer overwhelming...I plan on putting them on next weeks menu as a side...any suggestions as to what they would go good with to make a somewhat complete and at least partially healthy lunch?

Christy said...

Hey Birdie...can you change the settings on your blog commenting to link your name to your email?

As far as suggestions go...um... salad, chicken salad sandwich, not sure. I actually made these to be a snack.

Me said...

grin and sigh. I know you already told me that once AND how to do it. I promise to try to try and do it soon. why do i hate technology so, yet need it so desperatly?

anyhow back to happier topics like the kitchen, I am making these today, will be starting them in another couple hours. I ended up planning them with beans and rice. this will probably sound weird, but we dont really snack much, so with our supper they will go! I am excited! LOL