Foodie Friday #13 - Jalapeno Poppers Baked and Burgerized?

Last year a new sushi place opened in our downtown area. Dotombori. It is pretty unassuming as far as suburban sushi restaurants go. They don't venture out of the American palette too far but what they do they do well...especially during the Mon-Sat happy hour where their specialty rolls are $5-$7. The first time we stopped in they had an appetizer on the menu called a Heart Attack. It is a concoction of spicy tuna, cream cheese, and for the life of me I have no idea what else but I can tell you that it is wrapped in a jalapeno and fried to a crisp then drizzled with some delicious random sauces. After our first visit to Dotombori we were hooked...what I was not hooked on, however, is the $6.95 price tag that comes with the Heart Attack and the 6 measly pieces that come with it...which is more like 3 jalapenos cut in half. This week I decided to whip up our own poppers. No, I didn't use spicy tuna or delicious drizzling sauces nor did I fry them. I merely made a traditional popper coated in panko breading and baked. Simply, spicy, and delicious. Here is the play by play...

Jalepeno Poppers

You will need:

• Jalapenos...duh...
• Cream Cheese
• Panko Bread Crumbs aka Japanese bread crumbs
• flax eggs or an egg wash for the panko to stick to

Directions:

1. Cut your jalapeno in half long wise. Be careful not to touch the seeds or that heat will stick to anything you touch like your eyes or mouth. Yup, been there done that.

2. Scrape out the seeds and white rind with a spoon - if you have a grapefruit spoon with the little teeth on it that works great.

3. Scoop some cream cheese and spread it straight into your jalapeno...this in turn makes it s popper. :)

4. Dip your cheesy popper into the egg wash or flax wash and quickly toss into your panko bowl to coat with the bread crumbs. Take it out and place on a baking sheet.

5. Continue the process until all poppers are filled and coated. Stick in the oven at 350 for 15-20 min.

6. Once the panko is brown take out your poppers and top with a bit of siracha for a little added heat.

In honor of my jalapeno poppers this week I thought I would feature 2 specific recipes from last week with their own spin to the popper - burger style.

Sweet Little Smoothie linked up her Smokey Bacon Jalapeno Burgers. The added smoky flavor of a chipotle sauce and the saltiness of the bacon mixed with the heat of the jalapeno adds to the overall enjoyment of this dish! Look at that cheese...yum!!

And for round two we have Lady Behind The Curtain with her Jalapeno Popper Burger Recipe...see all that juicy goodness? This crafty gal added a big mound of a super special cream cheese mixture between two thin patties making these burgers stuffed to the max with smokey jalapeno flavors. Oh, and to finish it all off she adds a hit of guac to the top!! This is one for the record books!

So how do you guys like your poppers? Fried, baked, wrapped up in a burger? Have any other interesting ideas? I am willing to test them all out in order to find the perfect popper!! :)

NOW ON WITH THE PARTY

There are no rules to this linky party except...duh duh duh done...

• It would be super nice if you Followed LBR, your hostess with the most-est...while you're at it, leave a comment if you so desire!

• Your link MUST be a food related item, duh! It can be a recipe, a specific dish you are craving, a new foodie product you just found, a specific restaurants specific dish...it can be a picnic you had - I really don't care! Just make me want to eat it!

• {mandatory} Please post my button or a clickable link in your post so others can join in - they are located on the bottom of the right sidebar...Walnuts or Garlic? I dig em' both! I don't want to delete posts but this is kind of a scratch my back Ill scratch yours sort of thing...

• Try not to post and run - check out another recipe and see what's cookin' elsewhere! You may just learn something! :)

• Please DO NOT link up your linky parties.

*** FYI - Linky Tools had some new options that I am trying out this week. If you have any troubles linking up, please double check the rules and make sure you got it all down. If that isn't the problem feel free to email me and Ill see if I can help on my end. ***

Here is what I'll do in return besides hosting this fabulous bash of course...

Each week E and I will pick a recipe (maybe a few) to try out for our weekend feasting. If we likey - we will feature your recipe and blog in an upcoming party. If we don't likey...well, we won't mention you at all. We all know the golden rule - if you don't have anything nice to say then shut up!

Let the mouth watering, drool inducing, stomach grumbling fun BEGIN!! I'm Hungry...

LET'S EAT!!