Highly Customizible Jalapeno Poppers
- 8 jalapeno peppers (pick nice firm ones that aren't strange shapes)
- 12 cup low-fat cream cheese
- 12 cup low-fat cheddar cheese (grated)
- 200 g puff pastry (half a box of tenderflake or equivalent)
- salt and herbs (could use cilantro or black pepper or chili powder or dill or oregano or....)
- slice the peppers in half length-wise and remove the stems, seeds, and white fleshy bits (best gutting tool is a butter knife or tiny spoon).
- here's where we decide how spicy we want it: really mild: blanch the peppers in boiling water for two min, mildish: leave raw but leave the seeds out, med: add up to half the seeds you removed from the peppers to the filling, hot: add all the seeds, omg wtf ow!
- : add all the seeds plus some minced chipotles to the filling.
- if you like the smokiness of chipotles but not the extra heat you could just add a few drops of liquid smoke instead.
- mix the cream cheese with the cheddar and spices and taste for pain-factor.
- remember that the jalapeno itself will add a bit of heat but the pastry will take out a bit so it'll work out about the same spice factor, just more flavorful.
- fill the pepper halves with your cheese mix, how full they are will depend on how big your peppers are.
- now roll out the pastry to 1/4" thin or less and cut into strips just big enough to wrap each pepper.
- squish the folds together to seal.
- if you put them cheese-down on the pastry you can squish the pastry together over the solid pepper side and not get filling everywhere.
- bake at 350-375f for about 25 min or until pastry is golden and pepper inside is kinda squishy.
- longer cooking time at a lower temp should mellow the heat a bit as well.
- higher temp for shorter time will leave your pepper more raw.
- some tips for working with spicy peppers: either wear latex gloves while cutting/seeding or wash your hands at least twice using lots of soap and a nail brush after touching them.
- if you can still smell or taste it on your fingers DON'T touch your eyes.
- if/when you manage to get it in your eyes anyways the best treatment is vegetable oil to wash it out.
- so was recommended to me by poison control and it gives instant relief.
peppers, lowfat cream cheese, lowfat, pastry, salt
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/highly-customizible-jalapeno-poppers-376517 (may not work)