Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

As soon as I saw them I knew I had to make them! And I saw them a lot!! They were all over the interwebs!

Anyway... these are amazing... but if you're watching what you eat, save this one for a day when you have a little wiggle room... ok, a lot of wiggle room, because this is definitely an indulgence!



Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich

sourdough bread
softened cream cheese (about 2 TBLS per sammie)
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded jack cheese
sliced jalapeno peppers, sliced lengthwise
tortilla chips, roughly crushed
butter

First for the jalapenos. You can use either canned jalapenos (not the little pickled slices) or fresh. If you use fresh, char the peppers on the outside using your broiler or grill. Turn until all side are blackened (about 10 minutes more or less) Immediately place them into a sealed container. Let them rest for 10 to 20 minutes. Now the skins should slip off easily.

Butter one side of each piece of bread.

Place one slice of bread, buttered side down in skillet over medium lowish heat.

Top with shredded cheddar and jack cheeses.

Add crushed tortilla chips.

Top tortilla chips with jalapeno slices.

Spread cream cheese on plain side of remaining slice of bread and place it on top of sandwich with buttered side up.

Cook on medium lowish heat until golden brown. Then carefully flip sandwich.

Continue cooking until cheese is melty and bread is golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Ok... here's what you need...


Buttered side down, topped with cheddar cheese...


Then jack cheese... mmmm... so creamy and melty!!


Next you really should put on the tortilla chips... however I put on the jalapenos.


Ah... now there's nothing for the chips to kinda stick to... so I put the cream cheese on the other slice of bread and kinda stuck them on there...


Then I had to flip that onto the rest of the sandwich without losing my chips! But I totally got lucky have mad skillz... so it totally worked out...


Carefully flip it and continue cooking until the cheese is melty and the bread is golden.



These are wicked good! Gooey, cheesy, melty, spicy... YUM!!

You'll want to control the heat in your sandwich to your liking. Some of family thought they were a little too spicy... some thought they were just fine. Instead of the slices... you might even want to dice the jalapenos. Then you can really control just how much you have in there. I couldn't really pick out the flavor of the tortilla chips, as the crunchy coating on a jalapeno popper. Maybe I needed more? I'm not sure. But it definitely didn't ruin overall jalapeno popperness of the sammie.

I loved these... and I have no idea why I haven't made them again, because these pictures are pretty old!

If you love grilled cheese sandwiches and jalapeno poppers, you must put these on your short list of things to make!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

So last Friday I opened my email and the Daily Dish email from allrecipes.com was Jalapeno Poppers. Nice! I'll check it out. I only actually open a handful of those Daily Dish emails. If the dish doesn't seem appealing, I delete it, unopened. Maybe I lose out on some winners that way. But I get a lot of daily recipes, so I pretty much only open the ones that instantly seem interesting. (I do have a TON of appealing Martha Stewart Cookie of the Day emails saved!)

So last Friday was Jalapeno Poppers I!

That got an instant open. 4.5 Stars & 238 Reviews! Ohhhh and they're baked!! This is looking good! After reading all of the reviews, with everyone's changes & comments, I decided I would definitely be making these for the Steelers game!

This reflects my version of Jalapeno Poppers I



Baked Jalapeno Poppers
2/3 of 8 oz package cream cheese,softened
1/3 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 C pepper-jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBLS Chipotle Tabasco
12 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 egg, beaten
splash of water
1 1/2 cups finely crushed corn flake cereal
1 - 2 tsp Penzey's Arizona Dreaming Seasoning
Olive Oil mist

Cut & seed Jalapenos; place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake 15 minutes at 325F. This is just to take the crunch off them. Allow to cool to room temperature.
While they're cooling, combine cheeses, mayo & Chipotle Tabasco.
Crush cornflakes. I did this in my KitchenAid food processor until I had fine crumbs. Mix Arizona Dreaming Seasoning with cornflakes.
Fill cooled jalapenos with cheese mixture. Whisk egg w/water and brush the tops off the filled peppers. Sprinkle seasoned cornflake crumbs over each pepper. Lightly spray peppers with olive oil.
Bake at 325F for about 30 minutes. Serve plain or with dipping sauces of your choice!

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Slice jalapenos lengthwise & seed.


Be sure to wear gloves for this part. You'd be surprised at how hot jalapenos can be, especially if you touch your eyes or some more delicate areas!


Lots of the reviews said that the peppers were a little too crunchy when prepared according to the original recipe and some people blanched them to get around that. For whatever reason, that just felt weird to me, so gave them a little pre-bake.


Mix up the cheeses with mayo & Chipotle Tabasco.




Pipe the cheese mixture into the cooled jalapenos.


Honestly, this was a little thick to come through a baggie. I would have been better off with an actual piping bag. But going slowly, the baggie worked out ok.


Whisk up the egg with a little water.


And brush it onto the filled jalapenos. I did about 5 or 6 at a time. You want the egg wash to be nice and wet to hold the crumbs.


Season the crushed cornflakes with Arizona Dreaming.


Sprinkle your seasoned cornflake crumbs on top of the egg-brushed poppers. Again working in batches of 5 or 6 peppers at a time.


At this point, I put my tray of poppers into the fridge. Because I had an hour or so before the game. You could even put them in the freezer if you were working ahead for a future party.

Time to bake them. Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly spray each pepper with olive oil.


I have both of these oil misters. I got them at Sur La Table

I LOVE them!!
The white one on the left has a little filter on the tube, so you can put herbs or spices in your oil and they don't clog up the sprayer. The one on the left comes in 4 fun colors and is a little cheaper. Both work great and I use them ALL the time!
Ok... end review of oil misters! Back to the poppers!

After you mist the poppers with oil (for fun you could use garlic oil or bacon oil or chile oil or cilantro oil... you get the idea!) pop them into the pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes.


The topping is nice & crunchy!


These really came out awesome and will be definitely show up on the Football Menu at my house often!


The cheese didn't leak out. They were wicked easy to make. They can be made ahead of time. The topping is crunchy, the filling is creamy and a little spicy. I served them with ranch dip. But a berry dip might be nice too!

Definitely a winner!

What's on your football menu this week?