FLOWER POT KITCHEN: JALAPENO POPPERS

28 May 2015

JALAPENO POPPERS

Love these guys way toooooo much! The fresh burst and crunch of the mildly hot jalapeno with hot sharp cream cheese followed with the gorgeous crispy fried panko breadcrumbs, makes these such a wonderful treat, my whole family devours them so fast I actually don't get to eat more than I should!

Ingredients

(makes 30)

15 whole fresh jalapenos

400g sharp cream cheese like Philadelphia

500g panko breadcrumbs

4 eggs beaten

300g seasoned flour

1 ltr ground nut oil

Place three bowls on your work top and fill one with the beaten eggs, another with the seasoned flour and the last bowl with the panko breadcrumbs.

Halve each jalapeno and using a teaspoon scoop out all the seed placing them in to a bowl, add the cream cheese to the jalapeno seeds and mix well.

Using a teaspoon fill each jalapeno half with lots of cream cheese, don't be shy I like to mound the cream cheese high.

Using one hand for wet and one hand for dry, roll each jalapeno in the beaten egg and then in the seasoned flour, place on a plate and if you have time pop in the fridge for half an hour, this just helps the next stage of coating stick better, but is not essential.

Roll each coated jalapeno in the beaten egg again and then in to the panko breadcrumbs coating all over, again place on the plate and if you have time pop in the fridge until ready to cook.

In a deep sauce pan bring the ground nut oil up to 190 degrees, gently fry the poppers for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden brown, these are best eaten straight away for the best flavour, but if any are left over they are still great especially in the middle of the night fridge raiding expedition!

No comments:

LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.