I was talking to Alona one day and found out she had never had Jalapeno poppers before. I guess that makes sense since she’s Ukrainian and that’s pretty much an American dish. I figured I should go out and make them. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find jalapenos, but I was able to find these beautiful long skinny green cayenne chilies that I felt would be perfect to make cayenne chili poppers.
There are only three ingredients (plus a bit of oil for frying) so this recipe is extremely simple. The chilies of course, some herbed Philadelphia cream cheese, and some Spanish jamon. I know some people would say it is sacrilege using such a great ham to fry around these cayenne chili poppers, but hey, I got it on sale.
The most annoying part of making these cayenne chili poppers is the set up. Of course, that’s the same with jalapeno poppers so if you enjoy making those then the method is pretty much the same. You really just have to slice the peppers in half, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, smear in some cream cheese with a butter knife, and roll in the jamon. You can also use prosciutto if that’s more convenient.
After they are all made, I just fry them in a little bit of olive oil until almost crisp. Plate and serve. This is very different than my recipe for sweet pepper poppers where I cook them on the outdoor BBQ!
Cayenne Chili Poppers
Equipment
- Knife
- Pan
Ingredients
- 12 Cayenne Chilies
- 100 grams Cream Cheese herbed
- 24 tranches Jamon can sub for prosciutto or other thinly sliced cured pork
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
- Cut the stem off the chili and slice them in half. Use a little teaspoon to scoop out the seeds.
- Take a butter knife and scrape in the herbed cream cheese. Then wrap each filled chili with a strip of jamon.
- In a hot pan add 2 tbsp of Olive Oil. Add the wrapped cayenne chili poppers and let fry for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until the jamon is getting near crispy. Serve hot.
Cayenne Chili Poppers
Cooking To Entertain’s Favorite Appetizers
