Armedillo Eggs

Back in the beginning of December I got on a kick of making Jalapeno appetizers.

My family does not take these little creative jaunts of mine lightly. I will NOT stop until I have found perfection (in my eyes, gauged only by my mind,scary I know !!! hahaha)
In Southern California we have a yummy treat we call Jalapeno Poppers. You can buy them in the freezer section of Costco or your regular grocer. I however, like mine with cheddar and so never enjoy them as much as I knew I could if only they would make the darn things with cheddar (preferably extra sharp) I decided to begin..............
First batch I cut the jalapeno in half and took out the seeds . Filled each half with a cheddar/cream cheese mixture, then wrapped each pepper in half slice of bacon and baked till the bacon seemed done.
While these were very good they were a big, FAT, mess. The cheese melted everywhere and the bacon was still blubbery in spots. For me no good.

Sooooooooooo next I took an entire pepper. Cut of the stem end and cleaned out the seeds and membranes. ( by the way, wear gloves or keep your hands away from all mucous membranes after doing this little step, especially your precious eyes) Then I stuffed each pepper with a mixture of extra sharp cheddar, grated and some cream cheese. I added just a tad of flour to help it stick together and some minced onions.

Then I dipped each pepper in flour, paprika and Panko (Japanese) bread crumb mixture,
Then into a milk and egg mixture and then back into the flour mixture. I did this until it looked well coated.=, making sure that the cut end was especially sealed.

Then I fried in HOT olive oil until lightly browned, turning until I liked the color. Drained well on paper towels.

Oh My Gosh!!!!! We served them with ranch dressing. These little buggers are GOOD.

I'm sure there are about a million ways to make these. In fact I was googling Paula Dean and found out she makes something really similar and calls them Armadillo Eggs. I guess you would be from the south if you recognised that name. All I really know is that these are really good.

If you do decide to make them, just make sure you make enough. They go fast..... really fast.

Blessings, Sue Oh yeah, you can call them anything you want!!!!!