A late night expedition

I'd mentioned earlier that i hadnt used all the Jalapenos I'd bought from the market. I also mentioned that i have these bursts of cooking energy and tonight was one of those days. I say tonight because its 11pm at night and i have made Jalapeno poppers, the five minute cake (recipe borrowed from Miri) cleaned up and have also managed to blog about it. Oh and also, I'm waiting for Ro to get back from Amsterdam. He's on his way from the airport now :)

So with the rest of the Jalapenos , i made the poppers

Jalapeno peppers- 6 halved

Feta cheese- 1 cup, crumbled

Cheddar cheese- 1/2 cup, shredded

Pepper pwd- 1/2 tsp

Tabasco sauce- 1/4 tsp

Salt- very little as the cheese can be a bit salty

Egg- 1

Bread crumbs- enough to cover the peppers

Oil- enough to fry

De vein and de seed the halved jalapeno poppers and keep aside

In a bowl mix the rest of the ingredients well and stuff the peppers with the paste-like mix.

Beat the egg in a bowl, dip the peppers in it, roll it in the bread crumbs and fry in hot oil till both sides are brown. The cheese will ooze out when you bite into it. Yes very rich indeed!

Five Minute Choc Cake

This is not the best of chocolate cakes, but since its only five minutes away, you really wouldn't care i suppose.

All purpose flour- 4 tbs

Sugar- 4 tbs

Cocoa pwd- 2 tbs

Milk- 3 tbs

Oil- 3 tbs

Vanilla essence- a dash

Egg- 1

Baking pwd- a pinch

A coffee mug or 2 to 3 ramekins

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl without any lumps, pour into the ramekins and heat on high in a microwave for 3 minutes. The cake will rise over the top, but will settle down soon. Topple it onto a plate and dig in.

Notes: I put the ramekins on a plate so the microwave plate wont get dirty even if it spills over.

Jalapenos- stuffed and wrapped in Bacon

The Courtyard by Marriott in Chennai has a restaurant called Rhapsody and one one of my food review visits, the Chef there insisted i try the Jalapeno Poppers. It was the best i have ever had and whenever we go there, we make sure its on our starter list. One of the perks of writing for a magazine and doing the PR was the contacts you make. The Director of F & B at Marriott was a very jovial chap and we clicked right from the first interview i ever did of him. Marriott Chennai is like a second home to me now. Just recently when we visited India, we stopped by at Rhapsody for a meal and i harassed them to pass on the recipe for the poppers, but they were like..of all the things on the menu, you want the recipe for the Jalapeno poppers? that's sad! (maybe they just didn't want to give out their trade secret).

Anyways, coming back to London, its so strange that none of the super markets in freaking London have Jalapenos. So on our Friday lunch date at Borough Market i was delighted to see Jalapenos at one of the stalls (this...after going in and out of the several other veggie stalls). Picked up a few and decided to make the poppers. After searching the net for a while, i came up with an easy recipe for stuffed Jalapenos and not the poppers. I have only used up half of the Jalapenos so i shall try the poppers with the remaining. Here's the recipe:

Jalapeno peppers- 6

Shredded cheese- 1/2 a cup or even less ( i used mature cheddar)

Bacon- 3 halved

Slice the jalapeno peppers into half and remove the seeds and veins (this is the really spicy part). Fill the halves with shredded cheese and wrap with the bacon, all around, and make sure the cheese doesn't fall out.

Pre-heat grill to about 170C, layer the peppers on a baking tray and grill for about 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure the bacon is cooked and browned. Serves as a great BBQ dish.

Notes: If you have cream cheese then its even better, you can mix it with the shredded cheese and use it as the stuffing. More rich and tastier. I didn't have any left, so just used the cheddar shreds.