RichPB (richlife)
TVWBB Wizard
I promised some recipes, so here is the first. These are true to the name and good and spicy, but not killer. The cheese helps moderate the capsaicin. What you end up with is nicely intense and very true to jalapeno poppers.
I made these for the second time just yesterday/today. Rather long prep, but well worth it and makes enough for a party or to last a while. I froze and then thawed some with no issues the first time. Here's the recipe, but let me start by saying that I made a major change to the listed recipe by changing the 8 oz of cream cheese to only 4 oz and added 4 oz of goat cheese, I highly recommend this change. Pics and discussion follow.
4-6 slices bacon, fried crisp, fine diced
1 clove Garlic smushed and diced (or 1/4 tsp powder)
2 - 3 diced Jalapenos
1 serrano pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp dried chives or savory
1 tsp Cajun spice
1/2 tap blk pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 cup sharp shredded Cheddar (4-6 oz)
8 oz Cream cheese (soft)
1 tbsp Sour cream
Blue, goat, parmesan, aged white cheddar as desired
Crushed Tostitos/corn meal/Panko spiced with Cajun spice, cayenne, jalapeno powder, a little salt, etc. for coating
Mix all but coating material well and refrigerate at least 20 min to overnight. Spoon out small (1/2") lumps on wax paper lined baking sheet. Spray hands with small amount of Pam cooking spray and roll lumps into balls. (The Pam REALLY helps.)
Crush coating ingredients finely in a freezer bag. Two options to coat: Add balls as space available in bag to roil and coat. Repeat until all coated. (Do a few first and taste -- add to coating as desired.)
Or, I left the balls on the baking sheet and hand sprinkled the crumb mixture over them plus extra into the spaces between, then rolled the balls a little to coat. I found that worked better though took longer. The balls didn't get caked and didn't stick together. Too much dough or coating tends to detract from the jalapeno flavor.
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After gathering ingredients so the cheeses could soften, I grilled the bacon (it IS a grilling forum), quartered the chilis lengthwise and cleaned the seeds from the jalapenos with a sharp tipped knife leaving the veins. Simply left the seeds in the serrano. Sliced all into strips (1/8" or so) and then diced. I'll add the warning about getting chili residue on your hands (gloves"), but I'm part jalapeno, so just wash your hands well as soon as you're finished handling them.
This is a small dice (1/8") since they get rolled into small balls.
Mix up the cheeses and sour cream, add and mix in the bacon and chilis, and then add the spices and garlic. Mix well. (Actually, I forgot the cajun spice so at the end sprinkled it on top but only mixed in lightly. This left some balls with Cajun and some without which worked out well.) The original recipe called for chives, but we had run out, so I tasted and decided savory made a good substitute -- or leave it out. You can make it less dense with any liquid (beer works), but be sure it stays pliable and rollable.
This is roughly mixed. The cheese is actually more dominant when well mixed. Feel free to use your hands. Then scrape you hands with a dinner knife and enjoy! Put the well mixed product in the fridge for 2 hours to overnight to firm up before rolling.
Line a baking sheet or pizza pan with wax paper, pull out small lumps and roll into balls and distribute them with a little space so they don't stick. See the final recipe paragraph above for coating.
When coated, refrigerate again uncovered to firm up and dry a bit. Eating can start when you want. Store in fridge or freeze some.
(The un-diced chilis are going into a salsa today. This is a good thread: https://tvwbb.com/threads/smokey-dark-salsa.91651/#post-1116344 ).
I made these for the second time just yesterday/today. Rather long prep, but well worth it and makes enough for a party or to last a while. I froze and then thawed some with no issues the first time. Here's the recipe, but let me start by saying that I made a major change to the listed recipe by changing the 8 oz of cream cheese to only 4 oz and added 4 oz of goat cheese, I highly recommend this change. Pics and discussion follow.
4-6 slices bacon, fried crisp, fine diced
1 clove Garlic smushed and diced (or 1/4 tsp powder)
2 - 3 diced Jalapenos
1 serrano pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp dried chives or savory
1 tsp Cajun spice
1/2 tap blk pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 cup sharp shredded Cheddar (4-6 oz)
8 oz Cream cheese (soft)
1 tbsp Sour cream
Blue, goat, parmesan, aged white cheddar as desired
Crushed Tostitos/corn meal/Panko spiced with Cajun spice, cayenne, jalapeno powder, a little salt, etc. for coating
Mix all but coating material well and refrigerate at least 20 min to overnight. Spoon out small (1/2") lumps on wax paper lined baking sheet. Spray hands with small amount of Pam cooking spray and roll lumps into balls. (The Pam REALLY helps.)
Crush coating ingredients finely in a freezer bag. Two options to coat: Add balls as space available in bag to roil and coat. Repeat until all coated. (Do a few first and taste -- add to coating as desired.)
Or, I left the balls on the baking sheet and hand sprinkled the crumb mixture over them plus extra into the spaces between, then rolled the balls a little to coat. I found that worked better though took longer. The balls didn't get caked and didn't stick together. Too much dough or coating tends to detract from the jalapeno flavor.
---------------
After gathering ingredients so the cheeses could soften, I grilled the bacon (it IS a grilling forum), quartered the chilis lengthwise and cleaned the seeds from the jalapenos with a sharp tipped knife leaving the veins. Simply left the seeds in the serrano. Sliced all into strips (1/8" or so) and then diced. I'll add the warning about getting chili residue on your hands (gloves"), but I'm part jalapeno, so just wash your hands well as soon as you're finished handling them.
This is a small dice (1/8") since they get rolled into small balls.
Mix up the cheeses and sour cream, add and mix in the bacon and chilis, and then add the spices and garlic. Mix well. (Actually, I forgot the cajun spice so at the end sprinkled it on top but only mixed in lightly. This left some balls with Cajun and some without which worked out well.) The original recipe called for chives, but we had run out, so I tasted and decided savory made a good substitute -- or leave it out. You can make it less dense with any liquid (beer works), but be sure it stays pliable and rollable.
This is roughly mixed. The cheese is actually more dominant when well mixed. Feel free to use your hands. Then scrape you hands with a dinner knife and enjoy! Put the well mixed product in the fridge for 2 hours to overnight to firm up before rolling.
Line a baking sheet or pizza pan with wax paper, pull out small lumps and roll into balls and distribute them with a little space so they don't stick. See the final recipe paragraph above for coating.
When coated, refrigerate again uncovered to firm up and dry a bit. Eating can start when you want. Store in fridge or freeze some.
(The un-diced chilis are going into a salsa today. This is a good thread: https://tvwbb.com/threads/smokey-dark-salsa.91651/#post-1116344 ).