Quick Poppers
This idea probably isn't very original, but it's new to me. I picked a king's ransom in jalapenos at our friend's house, and all I could see (and almost taste) when I looked in the bag was Jalapeno Poppers.
I was quite sure that doing them right meant coring, stuffing, rolling in an egg wash, then crumbs, and frying them. It also meant a lot of time and trouble I didn't want to get into.
I couldn't avoid taking out the seeds and ribs, but I didn't have to do it within a whole pepper, so after stemming, I cut them in half, lengthwise, and cleaned them out. (Gloves recommended) I placed them, cut-side up, like little boats on a pan lined with foil.
Next, I cut little oblong pieces of cream cheese to place inside each one. I was actually considering stopping at that point, the cream cheese and pepper combination being the main goal for me. But another idea struck when I caught sight of the bag of croutons, left over from Princess Sassy's wedding dinner. About all that remained in the bottom were small crumbs... Just perfect for sprinkling atop my quick Poppers.
For such a small batch, I used our Krups toaster oven
, set on Convection Bake at 350 degrees. I baked these for 30 minutes, but I think 20 minutes would've done it.
These satisfied my craving for Jalapeno Poppers, and the kids loved them, too.
