"Steve Wertz" > wrote in message
...
> There was a rash of recommendations a few weeks ago about Jalapeno
> brittle. Being the adventurous cheapskate that I am, I decided to
> undertake a mission to make my own. Besides, I've never seen it
> for sale, even in Texas.
>
> Conclusion: Fresh Jalapeno cannot safely be imbedded into peanut
> brittle.
>
> When you add the chopped fresh jalapeno, it will dry out and burn.
> The temperature of the sugar immediately drops 20F-30F when you
> add the peppers, and by the time the sugar comes back up to the
> required 290F-300F, the peppers have dried out and scorched,
> leaving a bitter taste.
>
> If you add them at the very end of the cooking time, you get
> runny, un-crunchy brittle that only lasts a couple days at best
> before it starts to taste moldy/mildewy.
>
> The only way I've found to make a hot-sweet brittle is to add
> ground flakes at the very end of cooking, just as you add the
> butter. The flavor doesn't distribute as well, so make it pretty
> fine. This is an fairly acceptable trade-off. You don't get the
> flavor of fresh peppers though, only the heat. I currently have
> my second batch of Thai red pepper brittle.
>
> I found all sorts of recipes out there, and now I know why.
> Because there isn't a single recipe that really works. One recipe
> even said to boil sliced jalapeno's in a cup of water, then throw
> out the japs and just use the water. Totally bogus, IMO.
>
> Anybody ever made it successfully with fresh peppers? I'm open to
> more suggestions, but I'm unlikely to try them unless you can
> vouch that it really works :-)
>
> -sw

Dunk them in a little liquid Nitrogen --they'll get brittle.

Lefty
--
Life is for learning
The worst I ever had was wonderful