Dave and I have talked about making jalapeño poppers with a twist, by adding a bit of fish with the cream cheese filling, for what seems like forever. We started talking about it again recently, and our trip to Twin Lakes Cafe inspired us to use tempura as the batter. That way, the poppers would be lighter than the usual deep fried and greasy jalapeños with the thick breading.
These turned out exactly how we wanted, and even better than we imagined. Dave says the only way to cook these is with the one you love, a glass of wine in hand, and a bit of music blaring so you can dance while you cook. And that's exactly what we did...
1 can Wild Alaskan Salmon (or tuna), drained and rinsed
Jalapeños (we had 9, but could have done a lot more with the batter and ended up using mushrooms we had in the house as well)
1 Stick of Organic Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Fresh Garlic
Tempura Ingredients ≫≫
1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup Corn Starch
1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)
1/2 cup Tonic Water
Oil for Frying (we used grapeseed)
Heat your oil on high heat. Mix your package of cream cheese with the can of salmon (or tuna) and spices. Slice your jalapeños in half and fill each half with the mixture.
Mix all of the tempura ingredients together and dip jalapeños (or other veggies) in one at a time and drop in the oil until they start to brown.
Since we had a ton of batter left and we ran out of jalapeños, we used some musrooms we had on hand. We broke off the stems and filled them with the extra cream cheese mixture for a twist on stuffed mushrooms. They were SO good! I even took a metal straw and pushed a hole in the middle of the stems so I could add a bit of filling to those as well.
You could do this with just about any veggie you like. Would you go for the Jalapeño Tempura Poppers, or use another veggie to fry with this tempura batter? If you try this recipe, make sure to post a photo with the hashtag #mallorieowensrecipe!
♡ MALLORIE
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