Peppers are easy to grow and plentiful at the end of summer. In my garden, I planted sweet bell peppers, bull horn peppers, and jalapeno peppers. There are plenty of recipes for using peppers. One of my favorites is Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers.
The jalapenos start out green and turn red if they stay on the plant to fully ripen. The longer they stay on the plant, the hotter they are. The red ones are hotter but also have a hint of sweetness. The green ones are milder and crisper. (Tip: As jalapenos ripen, small white lines appear on their skin, like stretch marks. The more striations a jalapeno has, the hotter it is, and then it will start turning red.)
Set a pot of water on the stovetop and bring to a boil. Blanch the peppers in the boiling water for 2 minutes to soften them. Then drain them and place them in cold water to prevent further cooking.
After draining and cooling, slit the peppers open and de-seed them. (Caution: Wear vinyl or latex gloves when handling hot peppers. I learned the hard way many years ago that when the oils and seeds inside come in contact with your skin, it can feel like you've been badly burned for hours!)
Here's the best way I have found to prepare jalapeno peppers for stuffing: (I leave the stems and caps on.) The stems are "handles" and make preparing them (and eating them) easier. Using a small, sharp knife, begin below the cap and cut a long, curved slit down the length of one side. Then you can give the pepper a little squeeze to open it up to scrape out the seeds and membrane with a small knife or spoon. (I use an infant spoon.) If the flap breaks off, that's ok; you can set it back in place after you stuff them.
Make a mixture of softened cream cheese and shredded mozarella cheese. You can add seasonings if you want (cumin, red pepper, garlic). (Tip: You can warm the mixture in the microwave at half power for 30 seconds and then stir it. Repeat this until it is well combined and a good consistency for handling.)
Stuff each pepper with the cheese mixture and then replace the flap.
Pre-heat the oven to 350°. In a small bowl, beat two large eggs with two tablespoons of milk. In a second bowl stir together equal amounts of dry bread crumbs and panko and less than equal amount of grated parmesan cheese. (The panko gives the breading a crisp texture, and the bread crumbs help the coating stick to the peppers better.) Put some flour in a third bowl.
Dip the cheese-stuffed peppers in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the bread crumbs. Dip in the egg and bread crumbs a second time. (Oh yeah, double-dipping!)
Place 1/4 cup of butter in a shallow baking dish and melt it in the oven as it preheats. Place the breaded stuffed peppers in the heated pan. Bake 10-15 minutes; turn the peppers over and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot, with pasta sauce or ranch dressing for dipping, if desired. These Poppers are amazing! Not too hot for my mild taste. You can always turn up the fire with seasonings if that's your thing! Just amazing! I'm glad there are lots more peppers in the garden! You get a lot of jalapenos from just one plant. (Oh, by the way, leaving the caps on helps to keep the cheese in and makes for ease in handling, but as you're eating them, beware as you bite closer to the stem where they are much hotter.)
Tip: After the poppers are baked, you can freeze them for later use! Arrange the poppers on trays and let them cool down a bit. Put the trays in the freezer overnight so that the poppers freeze. Then place the frozen poppers in plastic freezer bags and store in the freezer. These will keep for a whole year. When you want to serve tasty poppers for an appetizer, place the frozen poppers on a baking sheet and bake at 350° for 20 minutes, turning the poppers over halfway through the baking time. Keep an eye on them, though. If the cheese starts to ooze out, they may be done
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
14 large jalapeno peppers
6 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 C. shredded mozarella cheese
2 large eggs
2 T. milk
1 C. bread crumbs
1 C. panko crumbs
1/2 C. grated parmesan cheese
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6 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 C. shredded mozarella cheese
2 large eggs
2 T. milk
1 C. bread crumbs
1 C. panko crumbs
1/2 C. grated parmesan cheese
If you would like to print out this recipe, click on the print friendly box below. When the window opens, you can click on the box at the top to remove images.
