Origin: This recipe comes from my 10 year old grandson "Joseph Patrick Stavoli" whose father was a chef and sadly passed away at age 38. Since then Joseph has always wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps and took up cooking at the age of 6. His mother owns an Italian restaurant where he has been able to get some good cooking tips from the chef and sou chef's and of course his Nona, me! He thought up this recipe himself practicing with different presentation aspects and by golly this is not only an eye knockout it tastes fabulous. We call him little "BAM" as he looks like a young Emeril. P.S. JOSEPH WAS SO EXCITED WHEN HIS PAPA TOOK THE PICTURE OF HIS MASTERPIECE HE FORGOT THE TOMATOES! Please visualize the plate with the tomato salsa on top.
Serves: 4
SALSA:2 Roma tomatoes chopped
6 fresh basil leaves chopped
1 TBL Italian parsley chopped fine
2 TBL chopped red onion
4 cloves fresh garlic chopped
1 TBL extra virgin olive oil
Splash of good balsamic vinegar (Allyson's has the BEST)!
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
Put all ingredients in a bowl, mix and set aside.
TORTILLA CHIPS:Take two small corn tortillas and cut in 4 pie shaped pieces, fry in hot oil until crispy, remove and put on paper towel and sprinkle with salt.
GARNISH: Prepare and set aside
6 chives cut in 1" piece
4 lemon slices (can use garnishing tool to make lemon pretty) make a slit ½ into lemon slice & twist slice setting it on the plate in an appropriate place.
4 TBL sour cream (1 TBL per plate)
JALAPENOS:4 large Jalapenos
1-1/2 heaping cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Wash jalapenos and put in saucepan, cover with water and boil until fork tender.
Using rubber gloves remove jalapenos from water, cut in half, REMOVE ALL THE SEEDS. Be careful not to touch your skin or eyes when removing seeds.
Put jalapenos on a cookie sheet lined with foil, fill with cheese and bake @350° for 7 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Put tortilla chip on plate & place jalapeno on top of chip.
Put Salsa over jalapeno
Garnish with lemon slice, sprinkle with chives, place avocado strip(s) on plate and add a dollop of sour cream on plate.
You have now experienced the FAMOUS "CHEESY J" BY JOSEPH, the ULTIMATE jalapeno appetizer!
