# Jalapeno Poppers From The Anhc



## Mercs Own (18/11/10)

I have had a couple of requests for the recipe for the Jalapeno poppers I cooked at the ANHC so here is my usual recipe:

Jalapeno Poppers in Beer Batter

12 Green Jalapenos about 5 6 cm long
1 250g packet of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 bunch of fresh Mint
1 bunch of fresh chives
1 cup of plain flour
1 bottle of American Style Pale Ale Arctic Fox, Hargreaves Hill, Wicked Elf Pale, Temple Pale Ale
Salt
Oil for deep frying

In a wok, fry pan, saucepan or chip fryer add enough oil to fry the jalapenos and bring up to heat.

Make batter first so it can stand and improve whilst you stuff jalapenos. Put 1 cup of flour into a bowl season with salt and then mix in the cold beer until you reach the consistency you prefer. You dont want it too thick or too thin. Keep the batter cold by resting it in the freezer while you prepare the Jalapenos.

Place the jalapenos under a hot grill and char the skins until black turning them as you go. When blackened and charred all the way put them in a plastic bag to sweat for 5 minutes this makes them easier to peel. Peel all the skin off but make sure you leave the stems intact and long. Slice down one side and carefully remove the seeds and the vein this removes most of the heat so if you want them hot leave some of the vein and seeds in how ever I recommend you make them without the seeds the first time so you know what you are getting in to. 

In a mixing bowl add 1 tbls of finely chopped chives and 1 tbls of finely chopped mint together with the cheese and mix vigorously so that the cheese softens and the herbs get mixed thoroughly into the mixture. Taste the mix to check the flavour balance between the mint, chives and cheese and adjust if needed i.e. add a little more of one or the other herbs. Using a teaspoon carefully stuff the jalapeno with the cheese mixture until they are full and resemble what they looked like before you grilled them. Carefully push the cut sides together over the cheese so that the jalapeno looks whole and intact. 

Remove the batter from the freezer and dip the stuffed jalapeno into the beer batter and gently put them into the hot oil. Deep fry till golden brown then remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper. Let them cool down just a little and then eat.

Best to eat with the beer you used for the batter!

At the conference I actually used canned pickled whole jalapenos - you can buy them on line at www.montereyfoods.com.au I do like the character the pickle solution gives to the Poppers, it is quite different to using the fresh, which do I prefer - probably the fresh version how ever using the canned option is quicker if you have a can in the cupboard. 

Note also that the chef at the conference floured then battered the jalapeno's which I do not do as it creates a barrier between the batter and the flesh of the pepper which I really dislike, also the batter was too thick. I just dip the stuffed jalapeno's into the batter and then put them in the oil.

Enjoy


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## WarmBeer (18/11/10)

I can confirm from 1st hand experience at the conference that these Poppers are AWESOME (emphasis mine).

The fresh ones Paul cooked in the session were also much better than the greasier, flour battered version cooked by the conference venue.


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## bulp (18/11/10)

I'm gonna slap a big +1 on the awesomeness of these peppers thanks for posting the recipe Paul.

Cheers 

I'm off to heat up the deep fryer :icon_drool2:


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## Fourstar (18/11/10)

Mercs Own said:


> 1 bottle of American Style Pale Ale Arctic Fox, Hargreaves Hill, Wicked Elf Pale, Temple Pale Ale



Or Kooinda for those playing from Vic. 

I planted some jalapeno seeds recently purely for this reason. If only i had prepeared some earlier so i could be using em this summer.

Fresh Jalapenos are pretty cheap at the supermarket atm IIRC.


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## seemax (18/11/10)

Mildly off topic but for those in Melbourne who love Mexican food products try these 2 places -

http://www.aztecmexican.com.au/ (Fitzroy)
http://casaibericadeli.com.au/ (Tullamarine)


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## beer slayer (18/11/10)

Hi Merc
I must admit I had a bunch of them at ANHC. they were awesome.
One quick question I think from memory that you used pickled Jalapenos.
Can you use fresh Jalapenos ? If so is the flavour milder, or are they hotter (Chilli wise).
Do they need to be cooked for longer?
Thanks
BS


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## elec (18/11/10)

Try wrapping some decent size chillies ( I use Hungarian Hot Wax ) with bacon or pancetta after using the filling of your choice. A sandwich bag with a corner cut off is a handy tool for the stuffing bit. Whack them in a decent frypan or baking tray in the oven at 180 for about 20 mins. Will put a horn on a jellyfish.

Yours in spicy goodness


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## manticle (18/11/10)

seemax said:


> Mildly off topic but for those in Melbourne who love Mexican food products try these 2 places -
> 
> http://www.aztecmexican.com.au/ (Fitzroy)
> http://casaibericadeli.com.au/ (Tullamarine)



Think it's the other way round mate. Casa Iberica is Johnston street fitzroy.


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## seemax (18/11/10)

Right you are!


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## Mercs Own (19/11/10)

beer slayer said:


> Hi Merc
> I must admit I had a bunch of them at ANHC. they were awesome.
> One quick question I think from memory that you used pickled Jalapenos.
> Can you use fresh Jalapenos ? If so is the flavour milder, or are they hotter (Chilli wise).
> ...



Ah Beer slayer, me thinks you didnt read the recipe before replying  Have another look at the recipe and your questions will be answered.

There is a flavour difference between the fresh and the canned - the canned are pickled and so you get all that pickling sweetness, saltiness in the jalapeno from that where as the fresh dont have any of that. The fresh however have that lovely earthy taste and can be hotter than the pickled variety for that reason I prefer the fresh.

That said doing them either way is a delight!


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## jayse (19/11/10)

I thought they were great but to be critical didn't like the pickling solution part of it all that much, was pretty strong so the idea of using fresh sounds grand.

With the pickled ones do you still grill till black and peel or just go as is?


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## Mercs Own (19/11/10)

jayse said:


> I thought they were great but to be critical didn't like the pickling solution part of it all that much, was pretty strong so the idea of using fresh sounds grand.
> 
> With the pickled ones do you still grill till black and peel or just go as is?



One of the good things re the pickled ones is convenience - just take out of can and split one side, scoop out seeds, stuff with cheese mix, dip in batter and fry. I agree the pickle is quite strong.

I have always used fresh how ever when I was in New Zealand for the NZ beer awards in August I cooked these live on TV. The day before doing the TV segment I couldnt find fresh Jalapeno's anywhere so a phone call was made to the local Mexican resturant in Wellington, they didnt have fresh jalapeno's either but had the pickled ones and gave me some. I cooked them up live on the tv show and that was the first time I had used the pickled and tasted them.

Love it when things that go wrong go right!


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## Kai (19/11/10)

Nice one, Merc. Clancy's fish pub in freo makes something similar which they call "Fried Mice". Taste great but a few of these on a bellyful of pints can make for a bit of an upset belly


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## bulp (20/11/10)

Made these bad boys tonight, its unreal how much heat comes out in these , i'll pay a bit better attention to de-seeding them next time, very nice.





I don't now why its sideways


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## Mercs Own (20/11/10)

Good job Bulb!! Yes they can be pretty hot if you leave any seeds or veins in- imagine making them with fresh Habenero  

They look terrific and I am glad you like them!

Kai, I have had the fried mice at Clancy's in Freo on several occassions. Unfortunately they got pretty slack about deseeding and veining as the last time I got some they were killers and I dont think they even bothered to deseed - I still ate them but I had to work at it. I wont order them again (well maybe once more) Done right these have great flavour and good heat they shouldnt become weapons of mass destruction (the next morning!)


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## Kai (20/11/10)

Mercs Own said:


> Kai, I have had the fried mice at Clancy's in Freo on several occassions. Unfortunately they got pretty slack about deseeding and veining as the last time I got some they were killers and I dont think they even bothered to deseed - I still ate them but I had to work at it. I wont order them again (well maybe once more) Done right these have great flavour and good heat they shouldnt become weapons of mass destruction (the next morning!)



Aha, that would explain it. There I was thinking I was just getting soft.


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## Tony (21/11/10)

i just thought of the 3 Jalapino bushes i have...... all starting to bear fruit and smiled


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## Mercs Own (22/11/10)

Tony said:


> i just thought of the 3 Jalapino bushes i have...... all starting to bear fruit and smiled



Hey Tony, I was wondering when you would pop in to this thread as I figured it would be right up your alley!

You being such a chilli fiend I am interested to know if you would make these with Habanero and how hot they would be?? Or is the flesh and skin ratio on the habenero too thin to char and peel then stuff??

Either way too hot for me though! Let me know if you try it.


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## Fourstar (22/11/10)

Mercs Own said:


> You being such a chilli fiend I am interested to know if you would make these with Habanero and how hot they would be??




Forget the habaneros, Tony will be running straight for the 7 pots! :lol:


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## olde (22/11/10)

I've only ever done my poppers in the Weber under smoke, but methinks I'll have to give my quack another coronary and try this, they look pretty noice.
An afterthought.. maybe I'll char in the smoker first, since it'll be running this arvo anyway, and then deep fry 'em. Best of both worlds!
Edit. Dang, I think I've just done been "Seppoised"


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## Tony (22/11/10)

Mercs Own said:


> Hey Tony, I was wondering when you would pop in to this thread as I figured it would be right up your alley!
> 
> You being such a chilli fiend I am interested to know if you would make these with Habanero and how hot they would be?? Or is the flesh and skin ratio on the habenero too thin to char and peel then stuff??
> 
> Either way too hot for me though! Let me know if you try it.





Fourstar said:


> Forget the habaneros, Tony will be running straight for the 7 pots! :lol:



Hey i like some heat but im not totally crazy 

I will stick with the Jals for now....... i usually slice them up and pickle them but this will be great for the larger ones. I may get some seeds for super sized Jals next year.


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## Mercs Own (22/11/10)

Hey Tony maybe it's time you sent me some?

edit: super sized Jalepenos that is.

Stilll keen on the habanero poppers though - I guess I will have to bite the chilli and give it a go?


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## InCider (22/11/10)

I wrap them in pastry and do them in the oven  Same ingredient, and I never de-seed them. (De-seed once, and feel ripped off).
Different cheeses, home made salsas and whatever is handy have been shoved in, but never mint.. that is the next to try


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## winkle (23/11/10)

InCider said:


> I wrap them in pastry and do them in the oven  Same ingredient, and I never de-seed them. (De-seed once, and feel ripped off).
> Different cheeses, home made salsas and whatever is handy have been shoved in, but never mint.. that is the next to try



Remember the Q&A from a Xmas swap a while ago?

Q: How many rellanos did you eat last night?
A: Arsehole says far too many.....

_Edit:  Jalapeno poopers _


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## winkle (24/11/10)

If the bushes have enough Jalapenos on them, I'll do a batch for the BABBs Xmas party  .
(Mostly seeded though).


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## J Grimmer (25/11/10)

nice recipe, i always wanted to know how to do these with this feedback may even crank em out over the weekend, with some fried mozerella sticks.


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## Tony (25/11/10)

Mercs Own said:


> Hey Tony maybe it's time you sent me some?
> 
> edit: super sized Jalepenos that is.
> 
> Stilll keen on the habanero poppers though - I guess I will have to bite the chilli and give it a go?



I dont have em yet...... i will have to order the seeds and will grow next season. I tried to get them for this year but customs got them along with a few others


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## InCider (10/12/10)

winkle said:


> Remember the Q&A from a Xmas swap a while ago?
> 
> Q: How many rellanos did you eat last night?
> A: Arsehole says far too many.....
> ...




PMSL Winkle.... they were delicious in AndrewQLDs smoker (food smoker)


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## Phoney (10/12/10)

Im going to make this tomorrow, but mix in a bit of home smoked NZ Salmon into the cheese.


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