These pepper poppers in puff form
really did come out incredibly well, as long as you don’t have a problem with
lots of unsightly dark spots. Since we loaded these with so much diced pepper,
the pieces on the outside caramelized (which is chef-speak for burned), and my
beautiful, golden-brown balls were spotted with golden-black.
Superficial beauty aside, if you enjoy
the gut-bombs that are classic, bacon-wrapped, jalapeno poppers, I think you’ll
love these shockingly light puffs. All the same flavors are there, especially when served
with the easy cream cheese dip, and the prep is much easier. I really hope you
give these a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 40 Bacon Jalapeno
Popper Puffs:
For the dough:
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon bacon fat
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon
fine salt)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
Then add:
2 ounces extra sharp white cheddar
cheese
1/2 cup finely diced jalapeno peppers
1/3 cup finely chopped bacon
pinch cayenne
pinch freshly ground black pepper
- Fry at 375 F. for about 3 1/2
minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through
For the dipping sauce:
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
2 tablespoons minced green onions
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- add enough water to thin mixture out to proper dip
consistency
40 comments:
Is that the mini Cuisinart deep fryer?
How about a sprinkle of maple syrup over the top?
Who's Michelle?
#mexicancruller
Hi Chef John, I really like this recipe and really want to try it...but I don't eat bacon. What can I substitute instead?
Thanks!
Title should be fully alliterative: "Bacon-Jalapeno Pepper Popper Puffs". ... You're welcome.
Should these be served hot, or can you make them ahead and transport to your gathering? Maybe a warm up in the oven?
Sounds a little like your gougères recipe (which I made for my daughters wedding, thank you very much). Can these puffs be baked like the gougères?
I see what you did here, Chef John! These are basically hush puppies, except you substitute choux pastry dough for corn meal batter. Very clever. You are the Edward Hopper of the jalapeno popper.
So this makes me wonder: can I make 'choux hush puppies and fill them with pimiento cheese? Hmmm...
Misha: if I didn't eat bacon, I would probably use duck confit. Fry up the duck for the filling, and reserve a tablespoon of duck fat for the dough. I guess you could use turkey bacon instead, but that just seems wrong to me.
Love your work Chef John. We're devotees. To avoid the blackened pepper spots on the puffs, one could lightly bread the outside of the puffs with fine breadcrumbs, or even just a layer of flour. Flour would probably adhere better than crumbs, and interfere less with the overall texture. A little make-up, just for appearances. Yes?
Can you bake these?
Good one Michelle. Chef John thank you for another good recipe to try. Sorry to hear about your oven. Enjoy your weekend.
Oh, and the appearance doesn't bother me. Though I wonder if the caramelized peppers intensify their flavor.
And can you do a video about different salts and cheeses? I am confused about what can be substituted for what.
Anyway, thank you for your blog posts and videos.
Maybe an egg wash then a breadcrumb coating would fix the appearance issue? Or is that too much trouble?
Will you be making the chicken wing video even though the super bowl will be over by the time your oven is fixed?
Don't understand what a "pinch" of peppers cayenne and black would add to a half-cup of jalapenos when making 40 poppers. Tradition, maybe?
Can we bake them
Chef, thank you very much for mt Super Bowl party GO BRONCOS!
These poppers are great! My guys loved them. I'm glad I doubled the recipe 😁
"Thoroughly and utterly" haha
No Pepper on the dough ingredients list. They are good anyway.
Making these bad boys right now. Dough is cooling but not for long, a little over an hour till Superbowl kickoff. No time to find the piping bag...
These were a hit Chef John! I would advise anyone who makes these to at least double the recipe - I used a small sorbet scoop and with the ingredients listed it only gave me about 25... We needed more!! :)
Made these and used pickled jalapeños (that's what I had) and they were awesome. Thank you for inspiring us to get in the kitchen and try something new
Chef John
Please PLEASE P.L.EA.S.E reveal the secret of how you manage to keep your stainless steel cookware so shiny. It's agonizing to watch your videos and see such sparking cookware. While my overall cooking IQ goes up with every video, the heavy-bottomed-stainless-steel-skillet sized hole inside grows bigger with every spotless pan. And for the record, you promised a tell all the last time I asked.
Do it!
Thanks.
Shantanu.
Hopw you are able to post the chicken wing video sometime too! Would love to see! :)
@locomotive_Breath
I would bet $5.00 to $1.00 that: step 1. he takes the fond off of every pan, weather he plans to use it or not. Step2 he uses something like a Brillo pad. ie. steal wool with soap embedded when the fond removal step doesn't work, and step 3: When the pan doesn't shine, write a new pan off as a business expense.
Cold liquid on a hot pan with a spatula will pull off a large bunch of the burned in spots. Steel wool doesn't have to be rubbed hard, it just has to be rubbed over and over for a pong while, like 5 minutes. shorter time than it takes to make a brown roux.(Spell check not available)
That's my guess, for what its worth.
That is my guess.
The secret is after washing the pan (dense, high-quality pans always come completely clean with just soap and water), I rub a drop of veg oil into it, which gives the look of a brand new pan.
WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO DISPOSE OF THE SEEDS AND THE MEMBRANE OF THE JALAPENO PEPPERS?????
As for the black spots, how about separating off a bit of the popper mix before the diced chili goes in, thinning that bit with a little water, and then rolling each completed ball in it before frying, so as to create an outer layer which conceals the exposed bits of chili?
Thanks Chef and Glenriven. I more or less follow the same process. I also periodically use Swiss Cleaner by Kuhn Rikon. Somehow the results aren't the same as Chef John's. I will try steel wool as well.
@locomotive_breath: as chef john said, soap and water only, will clean a good heavy stainless steel pan... but if you have very cooked on residue you have to add time to that equation. just let the pan soak in water for an hour-ish, and then scrub. if you don't want to wait, then alternitavely, you can scour the pan with COPPER WOOL, not steel wool. steel wool will scratch the surface of the pan. copper wool is softer and does not mar the surface. if you want to go a step further, use something like bar keepers friend (which comes in powder or liquid form) which does not scratch the surface either.
http://www.amazon.com/Bar-Keepers-Friend®-Cleanser-Polish/dp/B000V72992
I would coat them with an egg wash and corn meal. I would also probably put minced onion in there. Of course, this get close to being a hush puppy at that point.
Is this the vid where you couldn't say, "darn dark dots?" That vid was hilarious! Made my day, Chef!
Holy Mother of Julia Child - these are incredible! We made two versions - one with fresh jalapenos, one with pickled - both delicious. We made these for Superb Owl Sunday, and I believe they are the reason Lady Gaga won the superbowl! :)
PS - I tried to tag your page on FB when I shared your recipe, and it turns out there's someone impersonating you and linking to their Indian FB page - I reported it to FB but since I'm not you, it doesn't let me do the detailed intellectual property reporting. Here's the page.
https://www.facebook.com/ChefJohnFoodWishes/
Hello Chef John, would be possible to freeze them before deep frying? Only for the purpose of stocking for emergencies!
I found frying these in a skillet will make it so your jalapenos stay greener if you dont like the Browning of them being caramelized and dark. I just roasted them more often and they came out perfect.
I was going to make these for a thing at work this week. The day I was to make them, my manager gave me a huge bottle of pure Canadian maple syrup. It's gorgeous! My manager jokingly told me that I had to do something with bacon and the syrup. So I did.
I ended up doing kind of an amalgamation of these and the bacon and egg doughnuts. I made the basic dough with the cheese and bacon, then split it. I did half the jalapeno way. The other half I added some maple syrup and freshly grated nutmeg. I also made a dipping sauce of cream cheese, sour cream, maple syrup, cayenne, and cider vinegar.
It's possible, though there's no proof, that I sat and ate a few large spoonfuls of the maple dipping sauce while working at my desk late in the day.
WHO DOESNT EAT BACON?? THATS JUST CRAZY. BTW THESE POPPERS ARE CHOICE.
I really love your cooking explanation.
I tried your jalapeno poppers. Everyone loves in them in my family. I coated them in flowers stop the Jalapenos From burning
Would you could you update this recipe for an air fryer? I love this recipe but wonder if it's possible to cut most of the oil out.
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