Snap, Crackle, Jalepeno Popper
All I ever want to do on summer weekends is crash BBQs. And, yes, I’m using the term BBQ in the outdoor, light up the grill, party kinda way. I was able to crash one on the Saturday of Memorial Day. Our lovely vegetarian/lactard friend Maidelitala invited me, and as my guide, I decided I would make something that she could actually eat. That dish will be for another post, as will the dish I made for the other Saturday party that I got to too late to bring my food.
This post will star my Monday BBQ contribution. For Vi and Jerry Sizzle’s party, 80P made his signature chipotle dip and I also brought a whole pineapple to grill for dessert.
The main attraction was my above treat, grilled jalepeno poppers. Now, I don’t know what necessarily constitutes a “popper.” Does it have to be breaded? Does it have to be deep fried? Does it have to be rolling underneath a heat lamp at 711?
I just don’t know. What I do know is that these suckers are hott!
Our friends Anna and Jeb were up in DC for the weekend for a wedding, but were able to spend some time with us in between the festivities. Anna is the one who came up with the poppers. I mentioned to her that at my local grocery store I can only buy jalepenos in packages of 15-20 and wasn’t exactly sure how to use them all up. And this was the perfect plan.
Anna checked out some recipes, just for ideas. Godforbid I actually follow a recipe. I then showed her this a-mazing uni-tasker that I just saw in the latest Williams-Sonoma issue.
Anyway, the recipe.
I finely diced about half of a white onion and sauteed that over very low heat, in extra virgin, for a fairly long time, and then added in about 4 cloves of garlic.
Anna and I then got to work on the jalepenos. We slit them open, leaving them slightly connected near the stem, took a grapefruit (serrated) spoon and scraped out the ribbing and most of the seeds.
In a separate bowl, I mixed together queso fresco, shredded montery jack, cumin, lime juice, fresh garlic, salt and pepper. I let the cooked onions and garlic cool a bit and then added that to the cheese concoction.
When I got to Vi’s, I stuffed the mixture in the jalepenos and secured them with water-soaked toothpicks.
I placed them on the top part of the grill - the rack that doesn’t touch the fire. When the cheese started to ooze, I laid down a sheet of aluminum foil (which is some magical shit if you ask me, I mean, how does it not burn? Its heating properties are amazing) and lined up the jalepenos on there.
After the skin started to blister, I took the jalepenos off and let them cool for a minute or two.
I chopped off the stem end and split them open and arranged them in a circle. See above.
**We Blog, You Decide**
I think next time I will add cream cheese to the mixture. I think the cream cheese will help deflect the intense heat of the jalepeno. Some people at the party were downing those suckers, but I had trouble eating just one. I needed to take a break (with other food) between each bite.
on June 3rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
a-mazing idea and beautiful shot. Def putting this on the to-try list. Think I will have to go the cream cheese route as I am kind of a heat-wuss when it comes to jalapenos
on June 3rd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I was sooo jealous. They looked good, and I love to prove my spice-prowess by blissfully enjoy shit that makes other people cry…. But the rest of the food at the monday BBQ was also amazing - all so amazing! - even for the dairy challenged. I was full a half-an-hour in and couldn’t help but eat for two more hours straight. G-d bless bbq season!
on June 3rd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I love that top shot. And it seems like you could do the same kind of thing with little zucchini boats… I loves me some grilled zucchini.
on June 3rd, 2008 at 6:00 pm
looked real specy spicy hot…bs..i like the cream cheese add too i’m sure sag& sherry would like them too next time home. 80 p we want to try your spec dip too
on June 4th, 2008 at 1:14 am
main attraction, huh? :). i sort of thought of them as an excellent complement to jerry sizzler’s carne asada.
Thinking about this again now, and the whole “were these really poppers” question, I have come to the conclusion that a jalapeño popper is just a silly gringo invention. What you did is make a grilled chile relleno with a different kind of chille. So I bet you could stuff them (or poblanos, pasillas, etc.) from the stem end. That way the filling wouldn’t ooze out when you cook it, and you might not need foil. p.s., no offense (to you or our hosts), but it could be even better on the charcoal grill, just like grilled pizza–damn, that was a deal breaker (http://www.endlesssimmer.com/2008/06/03/grilled-pizza-recipes/).
on June 4th, 2008 at 10:01 am
just to clarify, i did not mean that my poppers were the star attraction of the bbq, just of what i brought (over the raw pineapple)
on June 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I’m totally drooling over these. And I think cream cheese would be a great addition. The more cheese the better!!
on June 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am
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on June 24th, 2008 at 6:49 am
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