alicat

DH and I love poppers and like to make them at home. The problem I'm having is that we prefer them with a breading and I just cannot get anything to stick to the peppers! It's like they're coated with RainX or something . I've tried scrubbing them with soap and parboiling but that hasn't worked. I can't get the breading to stick to them because the initial wet agent just beads and runs right off them. I've tried egg, milk and even oil spray but nothing works!

It's frustrating when I see recipe pictures in cookbooks or on the web and there are the peppers all nicely covered with breading and not one of them say anything about it being hard. They just say "dip in egg and coat with breadcrumbs", but it won't work for me!!! At best they look like there are 6 grains of sand left on them.

Does anybody have any surefire methods for getting the egg or milk or whatever liquid to coat the peppers? Maybe my grocery does something to them that won't wash off? Thanks for any tips you might have.

Ali

Chingal0

I've never ventured into Jalapeno Popper land, but I would assume that a similar batter that a chile relleno uses would work great.

1 1/2 cups flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
12 ounces beer
Combine 1 cup of the flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. Gradually add the beer, whisking until the batter is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Dredge the peppers in flour, then dip in batter, then fry. Maybe that'll work better.

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maleficent

I haven't made them for years, but what worked for me, is to dump them in the eggs first, then into the bread crumbs, and then let them dry out for about 15 minutes before they went into the oil (i usually stuck them in the fridge for about an hour)

you could also use a SHake and Bake type coating and do 'em in the oven...

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alicat

Thanks for your tips guys!

Chingal0: I haven't tried a batter because we like to bake them in the oven like the frozen ones you buy at the grocery. But I'm willing to give frying a try, it seems like a batter might stick better.

Maleficent: Your method is what I've tried to do but that's my whole problem, the egg I dunk them in won't stay on the peppers. I pull them out of the egg and it all runs off and they're basically dry again, so there's nothing on them for the breading to adhere to.

I'm starting to think my grocery carries some kind of mutant strain of peppers My homegrown are almost mature so I can't wait to see how they behave vs. the stores!

Ali

Fremen

Like Chingal0 said, dredge them in seasoned flour first, then the batter.
Make sure your oil is hot enough so it sears the batter and is not absorbed into it.

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Ripsaw

One thing you might try is giving the skin a bit of texture. Do you have a zester? It's a small peeler type device that takes strips of skin off fruits and vegetables. Run the zester down the length of the pepper a few times to break up the skin, and then see if you can get the batter to stick.

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alicat

Ripsaw: That's a great idea! Strange you should suggest it, DH and I were talking about this problem last night and he was thinking along the same lines. He thought maybe we could boil them, shock them and peel the skins off like you can do with tomatoes.

I think I'll try both techniques next time I make them and see which one works best (if they do work ).

Ali

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meee

Use a sharpe knife and make a cross cut (slit) on the small end of peppers.Grill the peppers until outside is blistered and blackened, put in a boul and cover tightly with foil until cool. Scrape the skin off.
I use kraft sharp cheddar "easy cheese", the kind in a squirt can, filling the peppers from the cross slits in the end.
Dip into egg wash (egg and water), then roll in something like a spicy fish batter mix(dry).
Fry until golden brown.
My homemade from what I grow are hot as all hell, don;t know how to get around that for people who can't handle it.

meee

I fry the popers in a small pot with about a half inch of oil, a few at a time.

alicat

Meee: That is also a great idea. I see chefs on Food Network do that all the time but it hadn't dawned on me to try that. That cheese in a can is a good idea too, we'll have to try that. We really like cream cheese in ours so I have to split them to fill them but that is never a problem, the coating is. I think the trick is going to be taking the skin off first like you suggest or texturing it like Ripsaw suggested.

The frozen ones we buy used to have a great raspberry dipping sauce that came with them and then they stopped adding it. I just discovered Smuckers raspberry pancake syrup that works great. Such a strange combo but the jalapeno's and berry really complement each other and taste great.

Now I'm really curious how the companies that make the frozen ones do it, when you bite into them they still have their skins on. Hmm....

Ali

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Chingal0

I was going to suggest the blanch in oil bit, meee beat me to it. If you blanch them in oil, the skin will get all wrinkly and help the batter stick, much like making a relleno as I mentioned earlier but failed to elaborate on haha. Give that a try, then try the egg and breadcrumb / baking, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

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TonySpilotro

The one time I tried it I had to peel the peppers like you would a carrot to get everything to stick, what a pain the ass.

There's a restaurant close to me that slits them in half, deseeds, and fills with cheese/bread crumb mixture before baking. Not as good as the true poppers, but a bit healthier and a hell of a lot easier to make(especially in large bunches).

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chef001_2003

for a dipping sauce
this is a gastrique that i just made up so amounts may need tweaking to fit your tastes

8 oz sugar
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries if desired

cook sugar with small amount of water as if making a caramel brushing sides with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from on sides of pot.

when a very light amber is acheived turn off heat and carefully add vinegar and lime juice. note of caution sugar will seize and vinegar will boil so add slow at first and don't breath in

return to heat add raspberries stiring until slightly thickened and raspberries broken into peices


Also feta and canned pickled jalapenos is a great combination

screamincheetah

From my experience with these, my suggestion is go to the restaurantand get them...seriously. Whether you're breading them yourself, or getting them ready to fry, there's cost there. Then you have to heat up a large amount of oil, and make a huge splatter mess. That's a bitch to clean up. Then you have to figure out what to do with the used grease. After all the work, they never taste as good as the ones in the nice wicker basket that you paid $5 for.

Jay Francis

Agreed. I'm pretty sure, too, that dredging in flour will help with the sticking of the batter.

jdionne

I roast and peel them prior to battering.

Val_1

I've been making these alot lately, only I don't bread or fry mine, I just bake them. I've started using Garden Vegetable flavored cream cheese. Oooh, good. That's the magic. A half dozen of those and a Corona and you have yourself a good time.

Those that like to dip your poppers, I recenty found the recipie for Arby's Bronco Berry sauce. I rarely dip my food, but if I do, this is what I'll use. Plus, it's fun to make.

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alicat

Thanks for all the responses guys! I'd totally forgotten to check back on this thread! My home-grown were killed by an early frost here in Michigan a few weeks ago and I haven't attempted a batch since. Poppers that is, I tried a different non-breaded recipe with the four peppers we managed to harvist (plain peppers filled with a cream cheese, bacon and cheddar mix). They turned out good but not what we like (cream cheese filled, breaded and baked).

What I mean is like the TGIF's poppers that we get in the freezer section. We're leaving for a long stay in South Africa sometime soon (up in the air), so I may not be able to respond for awhile to your posts.

screamincheetah: I agree it's a pain in the ass, however, we don't deep-fry, we bake the poppers, or rather we'd like to, which is the point of this thread. Assuming your (meaning anyone) someone who likes to cook, it's a hell of a lot cheaper to make your own poppers (Jalapeno's are cheap as!) than to pay $3.50+ for a half-dozen (or 12 halves) of frozen poppers.

We only have 4 peppers that came to maturity after the frost killed our first batch. As I said, we're in preperations to go to South Africa soon so I'm pretty busy, but I will post as soon as I try a new batch of poppers, whether before we leave or when we get back home!

Ali

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'Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun, The frumious Bandersnatch!'--Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll

"You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

namnori

I think I may make these soon myself. I made a batch a month ago and the batter stayed on pretty well just with flour/egg/panko. I'd like it to stick better next time so I'll try some of the methods mentioned above like giving the skin texture and roasting the peppers beforehand.