poppers!

We’ve been having stuffed jalapenos so often lately at our place they’re starting to feel like a staple.  And why not?  That delicious bite into hot, zippy, creamy, crunchy, and rich is pretty sublime.  While they’re pretty fussy to prepare, the ritual can be entertaining, and so rewarding!  Now, there are many versions of these treats.  What we’re making here at 1611 Harbal aren’t those peppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with bacon like you might get in a bar.  Our protocol came from a family Christmas gift.  My birth father’s offspring are all gourmet/gourmand foodies, having followed his dictum “approach each meal as if it could be your last.”   This crazy bunch holds their Christmas get together in February, so each member can attend to individual needs around Christmas.  It works out fine, and 2 months delay doesn’t seem to dampen our Christmas spirit (1).  At these gatherings, we give each other little food-related presents, with the identity of the giver often a mystery.  Several years ago, we emerged with a black metal contraption with some paperwork attached that included a recipe and a strange implement.  It was a metal rack with holes for jalapenos, to be hollowed out with the implement and stuffed according to the recipe.  It sat unused for several years till I came across it looking for something else and decided to give it a try.  The recipe was demanding.  Jalapenos had to be the right size to fit into the 7/8” holes in the rack without falling through but still managing to fit.  I recognized the names of the Italian ingredients but had never worked with them much: fontina cheese, prosciutto, and pancetta.  It took two grocery stores to get the ingredients.  Busch’s but not Plum had the fontina while Plum had the fancy thin-sliced Italian hams.  Fortunately, the two stores are right across the street from each other.  The peppers can be got most anywhere, but we had to take the rack along to make sure we got some of the right size.

I thought I’d take you for a ride on the latest preparation.

It starts by preparing the peppers.  Cut off the top (and save it) then hollow each out with the corer.  See here 16 setup for duty (2 had rotted and had to be discarded).   See them here in their rack, with corer in front.

Next is making little ½” X ½” sticks of fontina.

The sticks go into the peppers.  They’re usually too long, to be cut off and put into the remaining empty peppers, the rest making excellent snacks.

Next the meat.  Pancetta, on left, is fattier and gets sliced longitudinally in thirds.  The leaner prosciutto gets sliced in half lengthwise.  

For each pepper, pull out the cheese stick and wrap one layer each of the meat, stuffing the assemblage back into the pepper.  Now the poppers are all ready to pop into the oven.  But they can sit for a while.  I put up today’s batch at 7 AM after finishing the dishes.  Only problem was when Kathy saw them, she was urging me to make them for breakfast.

When you’re finally all ready for them, preheat oven to 350⁰ and cook for 20’.  Let ‘em cool for a few minutes, and pop away!

Here’s the recipe I’ve used.

Equipment is easy to come by.  While I’ve lost the ordering info for my curvy rack, entering “jalapeno poppers grill rack” in Amazon with get you an ample list of racks, most coming with the essential corer.  The name suggests this dish is one for the grill, although I’ve never done it that way.  I suppose the advantage of the grill is your guests can ooh and ahh over the coming treat for those minutes in cooking.  Of course, then you have to be ready to whack away hands aiming to pick one out before its ready.  They’re plenty tasty after the mundane oven prep, and you can do it when it’s snowing, especially since jalapenos are available in the grocery store year-round.

Reference

1. Ike B.  Chimney!  WordPress 3/8/22.  https://theviewfromharbal.com/2022/03/08/chimney/