Some people are cringing while others are cheering because football season is here again. Tonight is the NFL's season opener, and how can you watch football without a greasy, deep-fried, cheezy snack in your hand?
Last year I featured Game Day Potato Skins, which were topped with melted vegan cheese and soy bacon pieces, but this year I'm going to spice it up a bit with Hot! Hot! Hot! Jalapeño Poppers.
As I mentioned earlier in the week, I was at my grandmother's house this past weekend and loaded up on fresh items from her garden. In addition to the mint I used here, I brought home a whole bag of jalapeños.
Supermarket jalapeños are rather lacking in heat these days, so I wasn't expecting the scorching heat that came from homegrown peppers. Yes, I'll admit that I can't handle my food too hot, but these peppers almost set my mouth on fire. To balance out the heat, I stuffed the peppers with vegan cream cheese and coated them with the thickest layer of cornmeal batter I could get to stick.
If you're making these as a game-day treat, you can adjust the filling and add various spices or even soy bacon bits. Enjoy the recipe—oh, and go, Saints!
Jalapeño Poppers
12 whole jalapeño peppers
1 cup vegan cream cheese
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. cornmeal, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup plain soy milk
Vegetable oil
•Cut each jalapeño from end to end and remove the stem from the top. Using a small knife (or running water), remove the seeds, but be careful not to split the peppers completely.
•Stuff each pepper with approximately 1/2 Tbsp. vegan cream cheese and set aside.
•In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup flour, 2 Tbsp. cornmeal, and the salt and pepper. Stir in the soy milk and set aside.
•In another small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup cornmeal.
•Dip each pepper into the flour mixture, then into the batter, and then back into the flour, so that there is a thick layer of batter on the peppers.
•Drop the peppers into vegetable oil that has been heated to 375°F and let cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, being careful not to burn.
•Remove the cooked peppers from the oil and let drain on paper towels.
Makes 12 jalapeños
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Comments ( 4 )
These look delicious, but I'm wondering how "cooked" the jalapenos were. When I make mine, if I don't blanch the peppers, they're super-crispy instead of soft and gooey. Was that an issue with these?
Posted by thedalyn | September 4, 2008 4:45 PM
Posted on September 4, 2008 16:45
Love these, though I baked them instead of frying. Baking for 15-20 min. at 425 resulted in a cooked, but not mushy, pepper. Hot, hot, hot, indeed, but really good. thanks for the recipe.
Posted by Suzanne | September 14, 2008 5:19 PM
Posted on September 14, 2008 17:19
I just made these and am overall disappointed. Baking them straight up did not work as the batter remained an unappetizing white despite an extra 5 minutes - frying them would've worked much better. Also, the peppers were not really pleasant to bite into as they still maintained a fair bit of crunch. So, for next time I will parboil for a bit then fry.
I used an artisan cornmeal (from the mill at Guilford, available online) in the fry dredge. While more expensive and short coded this cornmeal gives a much better texture and taste to whatever you're using it in!
Posted by Sean | May 17, 2009 6:58 PM
Posted on May 17, 2009 18:58
Jalapeno Poppers!!
I had once one month before.Ingredients were little bit different.I prepared that without addition of mint.Let me do this again with addition of mint.
Posted by Chris Lees | July 10, 2009 2:53 AM
Posted on July 10, 2009 02:53