Goodness gracious it’s been a day. Smoke filled house, two power outages, and one thunderstorm later I have Jalapeño Pop ‘N’ Lock Pizza from the best recipe book ever, Revolutionary Pizza: Bold Pies that Will Change Your Life…and Dinner by Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau
It all started with me trying to figure out what I was making for dinner at 3:30 PM and remembering I had a pizza post that needed to go up today. A pizza post that was DUE today and hadn’t been made. Usually I have things planned ahead, but I am not sure what happened this time.
It was a perfect storm—in all terms of the phrase. Since I was running short on time I needed to grab pizza dough. One problem, it took 2 stores and a lot of time to get some. The only one thawed was Wegman’s organic pizza dough. Let me tell you, if you don’t have time to make your own, it’s a close second. Since I am still on the hunt for the perfect crust I can’t wait to try the one in this book, then I will update this recipe with those results.
Fast forward to 6:45 PM. I’m home. Slicing jalapeños and soaking them in beer batter while the oil heats in the cast iron skillet on the stove. I am not the world’s best deep fryer. (Psst, if any one wants to buy me a gift I’ll take a deep fryer, please and thank you. ) Within minutes the house was filled with smoke. It was so bad that when we opened the window I thought someone was going to call the fire department. Score 0 for me.
Finally, I get everything prepped, which really wouldn’t have been that big a deal if I wasn’t rushing daylight and not being efficient. Pizza dough with mozzarella is in the oven – CHECK. Jalapeños sizzling in oil – CHECK. Power goes out…wait. Power goes out. So not good. I keep pushing. May as well pray it comes back on while I keep prepping. Power comes back on and I keep on working. I start slicing bacon so it fries quicker – CHECK. Power goes back off…At this point I tell Dave to bring the grill closer to the house. One way or another this pizza is getting done on schedule.
Power comes back on. I whip the rest of the ingredients together and rush everyone out the door with plates, pizza, and a camera since the rain has stopped. The rest may be history…
…except it isn’t. I’m not sure what word is “cool” anymore so I’m just gonna say it, “THIS PIZZA WAS EPIC!” Hello newly cleared skies, it was EPIC. One pizza GONE. Awesome part? I took most of the seeds out and my kids had no idea those “crunchy things” were deep fried jalapeños. Sometimes I think they complain about how spicy they are just because they know what it is.
Verdict? Jalapeño Pop ‘N’ Lock Pizza is going on our menu again and again. Oh, and the rest of the book? Elotes Pizza (Is there any question when you see my Elotes recipe?), Blueberry Chipotle Figs Pizza, Salad Pizza, and Falafel Pizza are just a tiny glimpse of what Revolutionary Pizza
Jalapeño Pop ‘N’ Lock Pizza
Ingredients
- Dough for 1 pizza (pg. 19)
Beer Batter
- 1/3 cup/33 g all-purpose flour, + extra for dipping
- 4 fl. oz./118 mL pale lager
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tablespoon/8 g salt
- 1/3 cup/79 mL buttermilk
Rest of Ingredients
- 6-8 jalapeños, sliced to form rings (Seed if too spicy. I used 3 jalapeños)
- Salt and pepper
- 3-5 cups/710 mL vegetable oil for frying (deep enough to submerge jalapeños in pan)
- 1/4 cup/28 g shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup/237 mL cream cheese
- 1/2 cup/140 g thick cut bacon, fried and chopped (beef bacon for the win)
- 1/2 cup/25 g green onions, chopped
Directions
- Mix ingredients for batter and submerge jalapeño slices in mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Take extra flour and mix with a dash or salt and pepper. Preheat vegetable oil for frying to 375F/190C.
- Dip battered jalapeños into flour mixture and then into hot oil.
- Fry until browned.
- Using tongs, remove jalapeños and let extra oil drain off. Let cool.
- Top stretched dough with mozzarella.
- Bake 5-7 minutes in preheated oven at 500 degrees.
- Remove the pizza, but leave the oven on.
- Apply the cream cheese using a baking spatula.
- Distribute fried jalapeño slices over the pizza.
- Add shredded cheddar evenly across the top.
- Bake 3-5 minutes longer.
- Top with chopped bacon and green onions.
Slice and serve…and dance. <—Author’s rules so do it.
Recipe from Revolutionary Pizza: Bold Pies that Will Change Your Life…and Dinner by Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau
This looks FABULOUS! I can tell you aren’t from the south. If you were from the south, you would be a master at deep frying. 😉
Haha. Is it that obvious? The pizza is amazing and I will become a pro at deep frying. Those deep fried jalapeños were amazing.
This looks so yummy 🙂
Thank you. I can’t wait to make it again although I will double and triple the jalapeños just to eat by themselves.