A few weeks ago, I got to enjoy a cooking demonstration at my favorite produce place, Melissa’s Produce.
If you’ve read some of my blogs about my time at Melissa’s you’ll know that Robert Schueller, Melissa’s PR guru and all around good-guy, generously gives us produce to make the recipes demonstrated there. One of the recipes called for jalapeno peppers, so we got a wonderful bag of them, all plump and ready to cook. Included in the packaging of the peppers was a recipe for poppers, one of my all-time favorite “sports watching” snacks!
I kept the recipe for future use and made them the other day. I, of course, used Melissa’s brand jalapenos, and for the most part, followed the recipe. I did change a few things, but overall, kept it pretty much the same. There was a lot of leftover cheese filling with the original recipe, so I’ve taken the liberty of halving those parts so you won’t have as much left over–if any. I also used light cream cheese instead of regular, and they came out just as gooey-good.
Another great thing about this recipe is that they’re baked. SO much better than fried, and the way they’re made, you’d never know because the layers of flour and breadcrumbs keeps them crispy and not soggy. There’s an option to fry them, but why waste the oil and calories? They were the perfect addition to my Penn State football viewing. Our winning was a bonus! Go Blue!
Jalapeno Poppers a la Melissa's Produce
A classic appetizer for football season!
Ingredients
- 1 12oz bag of Melissa's Fresh Jalapeno Peppers
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 6 oz shredded Monterey or Pepper Jack Cheese
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp bacon (or turkey bacon) bits-optional
- 1/2 C milk (I used flaxmilk)
- 1/2 C flour
- 1/2 C breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat oven to 350. Cover a tray or pyrex dish with parchment paper.
- Step 2 Slice peppers from below cap to tip and remove seeds and stem.
- Step 3 In a medium bowl, mix the softened cream cheese, shredded cheese, optional bacon bits, chili powder and cumin. Spoon the mixture into the jalapenos.
- Step 4 Put the flour and milk into two separate small bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour: make sure to coat well and allow the coated peppers to dry for about 10 minutes.
- Step 5 Mix the breadcrumbs and garlic powder together, Dip in milk again and roll the coated peppers through the breadcrumb mix and allow them to dry.
- Step 6 Put on your tray and bake for about 25 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Step 7 *Frying option: In a frying pan, heat 2 quarts of oil to 365. Deep fry the coated jalapenos for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.
