14177 1 1/2 hours 1/2 hour as many as you'd like Mon Dec 15 12:27:32 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 12:42:18 -0800 2008 Medium Mexican User http://www.chow.com/recipes/14177 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:42:18 GMT A recent visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire was the inspiration for what became a delightful adventure in cooking up some of my very favorite things–chili peppers! We had dinner at Poco’s Bow Street Cantina ( http://timeinthekitchen.com/2008/09/pocos-bow-street-cantina-portsmouth-new-hampshire/) and while all the food was great, their shrimp and cream cheese jalapeno poppers were really great (they call them Snake Bites). I had only made plain cheese poppers before, so the shrimp was something new for me–but they were just too good to not figure out and enjoy at home. There were a couple of things I knew right off that I would do differently, like not leave the tail shell on the shrimp as they did, and I prefer poppers with the jalapenos roasted and peeled. What I hadn’t expected to do was choose more than one kind of chili–but there was such a beautiful array of fresh chilis in the store today, I selected three that looked perfect for poppers. And they were!

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To start, thaw shrimp, figuring 1/2 to 1 large shrimp per popper, depending on the size of the chilis. Put the peppers on an ungreased baking sheet and pop into a 450 degree oven. Within a few minutes you will hear them start to sizzle, then just give the pan a shake or turn the peppers over with tongs. Continue to roast, checking every other minute or so as the skn blisters and turns brown/black in spots. As they are done, remove to a paper bag, or wrap in foil until the rest are done (10-15 minutes total should do it). Let them sit in the bag or foil for 10-15 minutes so they can sweat and cool down. Then peel the skin off (with your fingers, most of it will come off easily, if some remains do not worry about it) cut off the ends, scrape the seeds and membranes off gently. The smoky taste roasting the peppers creates is irreplaceable, and removing the skins means they are nice and tender.

Now the peppers are ready to stuff–place a slice of cold cream cheese and a shrimp on the cleaned chili. fold to enclose and press together quite firmly. I like really spicy poppers, so I sprinkled a bit of cayenne on my filling.

When they are all stuffed, dip each one in milk, then in flour or fish fry mix–I used the fry mix. Press a generous amount of the mix all over each, then put them in the freezer to chill for fifteen minutes. Have ready your final coating of choice, and after the fifteen minutes, roll each peepper in the milk again and then in your favorite coating. I found that all the different coatings adhere well, as long as there is not too much skin left on the chilis. Then put the stuffed and coated poppers back in the freezer for at least 1/2 hour. In fact, if making ahead, you can freeze the peppers at this point and fry at your convenience!

When ready to fry, heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees, and immerse the peppers, avoiding overcrowding the pan. Turn if needed and cook until they are a nice golden brown. I did find the Panko encrusted poppers browned more quickly than the others, so they came out of the oil first. Drain on paper towels, and sprinkle with kosher salt immediately

Fresh lime juice is awesome on these, and they can be dipped in any sort of hot sauce you like to give them even more of a bite.

For step-by-step photos, please visit:: timeinthekitchen.com

]]> http://www.chow.com Timeless Gourmet 52 Snack Fresh chili peppers: one type or a mix of jalapenos, Red Fresnos and yellow Wax

]]> Cream cheese, 1/4 teaspoon per pepper

]]> Shrimp, 1 or 1/2 per pepper

]]> Milk or light cream for dredging

]]> Flour or fish fry mix for coating

]]> Final coating of choice, such as dry breadcrumbs

]]> Vegetable oil for frying

]]> Fresh lime

]]> Dipping sauce of choice, such as salsa

]]> 25159 jalapeno popper 3984 jalapeno 25160 shrimp and cream cheese 344 stuffed peppers 25161 sue hayes 25162 time in the kitchen 25163 red fresno peppers 7510 mexican food