An all-time Briggs House favorite has to be Jalapeno Poppers!! Now I have to be clear right up front…two things usually made this true at The Briggs House…one, my Mom made them, more on that in a minute…and two, Mom used a very special Jalapeno pepper, right from her garden!
But don’t let any of that discourage you because I have learned that great Jalapeno Poppers can be a hit at your next tail gate party or at any time with family and friends!!
Ingredients Needed:
Pre-heat oven to 375 – 400 degrees. Place racks so that there is ample space to use both racks to hold large broiler pans if you plan on more than 15 – 20 appetizers. Use 375 degrees for one pan; 400 degrees for two pans cooking simultaneously in the oven. Prepare broiler pans by spraying liberally with PAM or other vegetable oil based non-stick cooking spray.
15 – 30 fresh Jalapeno Peppers;
Bacon – 1 full slice of thick sliced bacon for every unsliced jalapeno pepper used. Lay out the bacon slices and cut them exactly in half to achieve two equal length slices of bacon. Lay the cut slices on a plate and return them to the refrigerator while prep continues.
Cream Cheese – 1 to 2 blocks of softened Cream Cheese (1 block will suffice for up to about 20 -30 appetizers. Unwrap the block(s) and place in a medium to large bowl to soften while prep continues)
Shrimp – Fresh Large to Jumbo shrimp – 2 for every whole jalapeno used. (1 on each half. Prepare the shrimp to taste. Grilled, sautéed in Cajun spices and butter, etc. You can also use precooked shrimp that are seasoned to taste. )
Spicy sweet pepper relish/pepper jelly
Toothpicks
Recently, I was invited by a great friend to a southern classic…an old fashioned Fish Fry!! My friend often hits local lakes and ponds for one of my all time favorites…Crappie!! And he knew, with the schedule I often keep at work, and can’t seem to ever actually go fishing with him…which I would definitely prefer to do (especially instead of work…any day) our friendship could be seriously tested if he fired up the cook pots and didn’t invite me to at least come eat those great fish and all the fixings!!!
Crappie, Hush Puppies & Home Fries…Deep Fried in Peanut Oil 
Southern Fried Crappie
And eat we did!!!
But when I got that invite…having pulled off a fish fry or two myself, I knew there’s a fair amount of prep and cook time involved…and people tend to get a little hungry…and impatient, while the food cooks! Enter Jalapeno Shrimp Poppers!
Now I mentioned earlier, one of the best things about Mom’s Jalapeno Poppers, was that they were hers! While that is true, it’s also true because she did all the work!! Isn’t it amazing how much we realize our parents did for us…after we start having to do it for ourselves…or others!! Jalapeno Poppers are what you might call, slightly labor intensive!! They take a fair amount of prep time…and a little caution along the way! I’ll cover that in a minute. But Mom also used a great variety of Jalapeno Pepper that unfortunately isn’t available just anywhere or in your average grocery store. But I still want you to know about this great jalapeno variety, so you can think about growing your own…in a pot on the back patio or deck, or in your own vegetable garden! And even if you don’t find or use this variety, your Jalapeno Poppers will still be great!! Mom’s variety was called, “Fooled You” Jalapeno Peppers. Mom bought seedling plants from a plant nursery near where she lived in Alabama. I had the pleasure of going with her a few times after Dad died…as she maintained her garden even after Dad was gone. And believe me when I tell you, she didn’t need the food for herself! Her freezers always stayed full…and they were most often only pillaged when I, or my sisters, grandkids or Mom’s friends and neighbors left her house to go back home! That’s when she loaded us all up with the bounty of her hands’ work. And that was after she had often shared straight from the garden itself! Tomatoes, green beans, okra, corn, potatoes, lettuce, peppers…she had…and shared…it all!
Fooled You jalapeno peppers are a variety of jalapeno with virtually no heat. They have the flavor and appearance of regular jalapenos, but are more akin to the “heat” of bell peppers. They are typically just a bit larger than regular jalapenos at about 3 ¼ inches long and 1 inch wide. This makes them ideal for poppers!! But it’s an important note to consider that these peppers do still have heat! In fact, in my experience, you could always count on a “rogue” pepper or two that gave it all it had to make an impression on the Scoville Heat scale!! These peppers will also turn red if they are allowed to mature to that extent…and they tend to get somewhat hotter, if not also sweeter, as that occurs. But all in all, this variety of pepper will satisfy most pepper lovers for taste, and sufficient and enjoyable heat, while appealing to those that prefer taste over challenging or intolerable heat!
I’m providing one link below for ordering seeds that you can plant and grow your own Fooled You peppers. There are likely local nurseries you can enquire with to purchase seedling plants as well. Full disclosure…I have not ordered from or used this source. But I was pleased to see that with a simple search on Google, it appears there are several sources for this great pepper!
https://www.seedsnsuch.com/product/fooled-you-jalapeno-hybrid-hot-pepper-seeds/
Otherwise, at your local grocery store, or favorite vegetable or produce stand, you are sure to find Jalapeno Peppers up to the task of becoming great Poppers! I don’t always choose the biggest peppers. In fact, I try to select a mixture of sizes as not everyone enjoys eating the larger peppers over being able to “pop” the whole appetizer in their mouth at once with the smaller peppers! But I do like to find peppers that are somewhat firm, have a great, deep, dark green color and are free from most blemishes. I also try to choose peppers that are ideally shaped for slicing along the length and middle of the pepper. In the end, each jalapeno pepper will make two appetizers as I prepare them. There are those that stuff the pepper and put the two halves back together for cooking and serving. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that…it just isn’t how we usually do it at The Briggs House! Choosing peppers that are more evenly shaped and will easily lay flat on the pan while baking in the oven is simply a plus!
The key to great poppers is the same as with many great dishes…preparation! Except in this case, the prep itself can be problematic if you aren’t very careful! It may go without saying…but just to be sure, what makes a jalapeno pepper hot, are the seeds!! After you slice open a jalapeno pepper, you can also see fleshy type veins or splines that are usually white in color. These splines are not as much a part of the pepper’s heat as the seeds…as they are detractors from the overall quality taste and texture you look to enjoy when eating great peppers.
So in your preparation for great poppers, there is some important work to do…slicing the peppers properly, removing the seeds, and removing the splines.
Listen closely…you are about to hear the voice of experience! Learn from it!!
Removing all those seeds in jalapeno peppers can be tedious! The first time I ever made poppers, I thought to myself…there has to be an easier way to do this! Surely Mom didn’t do all this work on those great Poppers I enjoyed for so many years!! My brain child was to “wash” the seeds out of the peppers after slicing them open!! Big mistake!! Some of you may know that at one time, I was a police officer. On more than one occasion, one of the officers I was out on a call with, found reason and justification to use his or her pepper spray on a non-compliant or combative perpetrator/arrestee. It never failed that we were always inside a small house or room when that happened! I hate it when that happens!! Because not only does the bad guy get a dose of that spray, but almost instantly, the air in the whole house is permeated with pepper spray…pepper spray that I then had to breathe and suffer through as my eyes started to fill with tears and swell shut…almost as much as the guy that took the direct hit!!
Well, let me just say that the first time I made poppers and tried to wash the seeds out of the peppers, everybody in my house had to run out the back door!! That water seemed to just diffuse all the heat out into the air and the coughing and sneezing that ensued was pretty dramatic!
So suffice it to say, there is a better way…but washing those peppers is not it!!
You will see some pictures below that illustrate how I now prep jalapenos for poppers. I’ll have to add something here that I usually do but didn’t when I asked my wife Sheila to take these pictures for the blog. A good pair of latex gloves goes a long way in keeping you safer when handling and preparing jalapenos! It will only take one time of you rubbing your eyes or scratching your nose after handling jalapenos for you to know you never want to do that again!! In fact, it’s put many people in the emergency room to get over it!! Using those latex gloves is not a sure thing…but they help tremendously!!
As you begin your preparation of poppers, like other food prep, a well balanced, and well sharpened knife is always a must! I won’t take the time here to talk knives, knife skills, or even all the safety precautions such a stable cutting surface, a great cutting board…and so on, but please take the time and all the steps to stay safe in the kitchen!!
I start by cutting the stem ends off of the peppers as seen in the picture above. Next, I turn the pepper and carefully slice it longitudinally into two halves as shown below.
Next, after laying out the halves, I take a smaller, and if possible, a sharper edged spoon that has a more oval than square shape to it to begin removing the seeds and white, fleshy, splines of the jalapeno pepper.
I use the tip of the spoon to carefully but deliberately run it along and on top of the inner green pepper portion so as to run right at the base of the white spline. One continual motion will usually collect the spline and most all the seeds in one pass toward the top or stem end of the pepper. You may have to remove a few seeds by hand but you can actually wait to do that later. I typically place the de-seeded peppers in a zip lock bag to stage them prior to moving to the next step.
Let’s talk quantity for a second…
As I mentioned, the way we prepare poppers at The Briggs House, each jalapeno pepper produces two appetizers. What I didn’t really tell you before is that these poppers go fast!! There are definitely some people that have a very low heat and spice tolerance for their food. But overall, if you do the work to remove the seeds and splines entirely from your peppers, most people that eat them are pleasantly surprised to discover they aren’t that hot…even if you aren’t able to use Fooled You peppers! With that, you will find many more people than you think might, will not only enjoy them…but come back to the tray for seconds, thirds…or make a meal of them!! Bearing in mind that 30 jalapenos make 60 appetizers, I would prepare this many for a party of up to 20 -30 adults…at least the first time you make them…and as long as there are other appetizers in play. The second time you make them for the family or same group of friends…I bet you find you need to make more!! This amount should ensure that you have enough for all to have at least one or two if they choose, and take care of the gluttons in the group too! And, you may possibly even have a few left over which can be refrigerated and re-heated. I’ll be clear here though…I’ve never refrigerated or stored these poppers for later…I’ve never had any leftovers!!
Once all the peppers are de-seeded, they are ready for stuffing! And this is where I’ve added a little something extra to how Mom always made poppers!!
Begin by checking the cream cheese you placed in a large bowl earlier to see if it has softened sufficiently to mix easily with a large spoon. If not, a short time in the microwave should finish the job. Just be careful not to begin to cook the cream cheese.
Many of you may be familiar with the appetizer often prepared around Christmas that calls for softened cream cheese to be placed in the center of a plate and then covered with either red or green (or both) pepper jelly. You then use Club or other types of crackers to dip in and eat the incredible combinations of cool cream cheese and spicy jelly flavors!
This is essentially what we are aiming for here with the stuffing for the poppers!! Later in The Briggs House Food Blog, I will share a great recipe for my Mom’s Pear Relish! And this is what I often use to mix with the softened cream cheese for my Poppers! It has just the right amount of spiciness, sweetness and even some slightly crunchy texture that works great for the poppers! If you have access to this sort of relish or another that sounds good to you…go for it! But adding red or green pepper jelly will do the trick too!!
So much of my cooking circles around smell and taste while I am cooking! It’s hard for me to talk quantities for many ingredients because it so often comes down to the tastes I know my family typically enjoys…and how the food smells to me as it cooks. I know that may seem strange…or even frustrating…but very often, I can tell by smell alone if a particular food needs more spice or even salt. The amount of relish or pepper jelly you add to your cream cheese for poppers is largely a matter of your tastes. You also don’t have to add anything to the cream cheese…and the poppers will still be great!! After all, we will soon be adding bacon to this equation…and you can never go wrong with bacon!!
Make sure you have washed your hands thoroughly and/or you can use a fresh pair of latex gloves to stuff the peppers.
Remove the plate of sliced bacon from the refrigerator and place it near the area you will complete preparation of the poppers.
I add enough relish or pepper jelly to arrive at a slightly spicy mixture, add a pinch or two or black pepper as well as salt if you feel the flavors are a little bland in the mixture. I then begin removing Jalapeno pepper halves from the zip lock bag and placing them on my cleaned cutting board. Bring the broiler pans nearby and begin spooning small portions of the cream cheese mixture into the Jalapeno halves. You want to be somewhat conservative here. I like to fill the half slice just so the cheese reaches the top of the slice. You can use your finger to make the mixture even with the top of the slice…and place any extra back in the bowl for adding to another slice.
Once the cream cheese mixture has been added to the sliced pepper, take 1 prepared shrimp and carefully lay it over the cream cheese side of the half-slice of jalapeno pepper. Take one half-slice of bacon and place one end at the center or slightly over one edge of the pepper, covering the piece of shrimp. Carefully wrap the bacon around the underside of the pepper and then wrap it back over the top, overlapping the portion of the bacon placed previously. Lay the Popper with the bacon held in place back on the cutting board and stick a clean toothpick through the two layers of bacon, through the cream cheese and into the bottom of the popper until it strikes the cutting board. Carefully place the prepared Popper on the broiler pan and repeat until the pan is full of Poppers.
It’s generally a good idea to leave space between any items being baked. The picture above illustrates a good spacing for the Poppers. However, I have placed the prepared poppers touching each other to get more out of each bake with no issues.
I typically bake these Poppers for approximately 30 minutes. Quantities and size of peppers may vary cook times. How done you prefer bacon can play a role in cook time. We prefer the bacon to be slightly chewy with these poppers (really any time) but moreover, what usually rules to know when these poppers are ready is if…and when the cream cheese begins to cook out of the pepper and out onto the pan, they need to come out of the oven. There’s a much greater chance of this if you have “over-stuffed” the pepper with the cream cheese mixture during prep…so this can be a bit of a trial and error process!! It’s also a good idea to swap the lower pan of poppers with the upper pan about half way through the cooking time! You should also begin to see the cream cheese mixture become slightly browned at the end of cooking.
When the Poppers are done, carefully remove the pans from the oven and place on a safe and sturdy surface to allow the Poppers to cool for about 5 – 10 minutes before placing them on a flat serving tray of your choice. This can be tricky…not only because the first bite of a popper that hasn’t cooled slightly, is more likely to hold steam within the cream cheese mixture or moisture from the pepper…which then can almost squirt as you bite them and burn your mouth…but also because there will be a line of people forming to take that risk!!! The smells in your kitchen at this point have brought everyone in a 5 mile radius to get their hands on whatever has been going on in your house!!
While the Poppers cool, I like to add another sprinkle of coarse ground black pepper and maybe just a touch of coarse salt too for taste and appearance!! One last caution…make sure those that are younger (or those who may be heavily influenced by the great cocktails you prepare to serve with the Poppers) know to remove the toothpick prior to eating the poppers!! You might even choose to remove them all…just let them all cool first as they hold together better as the bacon cools and contracts.
You are now ready to watch the spectacle unfold and become the superstar of any gathering…with Briggs House Jalapeno Shrimp Poppers…enjoy!!!!
Let me know how yours turn out…what additions or changes you make…and as always, how I can help you fall in love with cooking and feeding those you care about most…like the Briggs House!! Follow my blog and feel free to comment on all my blog posts!! Thanks for cooking with me!!!
