First, I did my research. I browsed some of the 98237987 recipes for them on the internet, grabbing tips and tricks and general guidelines, but in the end I made up my own recipe based on all I read. It's actually two recipes since I decided to experiment a bit.
9-10 whole jalapeño peppers (see below)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1.2 cup flour
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups breadcrumbs
hot oil
The experimental part has to do with the jalapeños. Most of the recipes I found were pretty straightforward regarding the peppers. There were variations based on whether you cut them in half before stuffing them, but they agreed about getting them fresh and de-seeding them. A couple advised blanching them to soften them a bit. However, one recipe I ran across suggested that instead of using fresh peppers you should use pickled peppers because they're already soft and have a lot of flavor.
I decided to try both! I bought four fresh jalapenos and a can of pickled whole ones.
I prepped the fresh peppers first. I cut the tops off, then cut them in half and pulled out all the seeds and membranes. I know the power of peppers so I wore gloves the entire time I was handling the peppers to make sure I didn't get any juice on my hands and transfer it anyplace else. The pickled peppers Paul Peterson prepared are on the left. The fresh are on the right.
I blanched the fresh ones in boiling water for a couple minutes to soften them up, which seemed to work very well for the final product.
The next step was the cheese. I read a lot of fancy recipes for spices and such to mix into it, but for my first try I just went with cream cheese and finely grated cheddar. (Side note, this stuff is delicious on Triskets as well, as my lack of leftover cheese shows.)
It doesn't look like a lot, but it stuffed 18 half peppers with some left over for crackers, so unless you're making a ton, this will do.
I spooned the mixture into the half peppers. Well, really I wrapped the half peppers around a cylinder of cheese. The cheese should be a mound above the edge of the shells.
I even went back and put more in some of them until they all looked properly full.
The next step is the coating. I started by rolling each of the peppers in flour to give the coating something to hang onto. Then it was into the buttermilk followed by breadcrumbs. Once each of them had a coat on it, I put the plate into the fridge for 5-10 minutes. This lets the buttermilk absorb into the breadcrumbs and form more of a paste than just wet crumbs. It will help it all stick together. The fridge just helps the cheese stay more solid. After the wait, I put them all through the buttermilk and crumbs again before another stint in the cooler.
I heated my oil to 350 degrees and that seemed to work perfectly. I dropped them in two or three at a time depending on how big they were. I cooked the fresh peppers first since I had the most hope for them and wanted to try them immediately. Then I cooked the pickled peppers. I let the fryer climb back up to 350 between each batch as well.
I cooked them for about 2 minutes on one side then flipped them over and cooked them for about another 2 minutes or until they changed color to a darker brown. I put them on a paper towel to dry and cool and then tried them!
Let's start with the fresh pepper as I did. The first bite was delicious, but surprisingly mild. I got a lot of cream cheese and cheddar flavors with a pepper flavor that reminded me more of green peppers than jalapeños. The coating wasn't too greasy and had a some flavor. As I finished it, though, my elation faded and I realized that it was actually kind of bland and could have done with some salt at the very least. It also had almost no kick to it, which was quite disappointing. I could definitely recommend them, though, as a good party food for anyone who doesn't like a lot of kick (assuming adding salt.)
The pickled peppers were an entirely different story. They had plenty of kick! The cream cheese and cheddar still came through, but there was definitely the strong taste and heat you get from jalapeños on nachos, for example. It could still use some salt, but it was otherwise pretty much what I was hoping for from the beginning. If anything it was a bit hot, but only because it overwhelmed the other flavors. When I make them for myself, this is definitely the way I'm going to go.
Overall, I'd rate this a huge success. I'm incredibly pleased with the way both peppers came out as it gives me options for making them for myself and others. Next time I'll add some salt to the breadcrumbs, and I may start experimenting with adding stuff to the cheese (maybe bacon!) I might use a bit less than half a pickled pepper or use more cheese next time to help balance the flavors a bit better. I love these just the way they are, but my roommate suggested making dipping sauce, so I could work on that as well.
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