Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Whenever I go to the grocery store I try to get one ingredient that I am not entirely sure what to do with.  Last time it was jalapenos! We occasionally buy the frozen jalapeno poppers (so yummy) so I thought it would be great to try to make them from scratch.  The results surprised me!

Ingredients

• 4 Jalapenos
• 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 chili powder
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of flour
• Rubber/latex gloves (will explain below)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In one bowl add the bread crumbs, chili powder, black pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
In another bowl add the egg and whisk.
Put the flour on a plate.
In bowl number three, add the cream cheese, milk and cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese is well mixed.

Put on your gloves, cut the jalapenos in half lengthwise and de-seed them.  I advise leaving the gloves on until you clean up the jalapeno seed mess.  I took mine off a little early and two of my fingers were burning for hours afterwards.  After cold water and ice did not help I looked up a remedy and discovered that lime juice and vaseline took the burn away in 15 minutes, whew.

Stuff all your jalapeno halves with the cream cheese mixture.  Then dip the jalapeno in the flour, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs.  Make sure you coat all the sides.

Put the popper cheese side up on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Caution!  It turns out these are waaaayy more spicy then the frozen variety that we were used too.  A tip that I got from a friend (after our mouths were burning) is to soak the de-seeded peppers in a mixture of half oil and half vinegar overnight.  I am going to try this next time we make these and hopefully we can enjoy them a little more.