Making Jalapeno Brittle

"Steve Wertz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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

Cook this to hard crack not soft crack like the recipe says.
Jalapeno Peanut Brittle
CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

Category: Peanut Brittle
Serves/Makes: 1 lb | Difficulty Level: 3 | Ready In: < 30
minutes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup fresh jalapeno peppers, cleaned, finely chopped
(no seeds and no white part)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup raw peanuts
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 drops green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Grease a 15 x 10-inch jellyroll pan. Set aside. In a skillet melt 1
tablespoon of the butter; add jalapenos and peanuts, and cook over low
heat until peppers are soft. In a saucepan, combine sugar and syrup and
bring to a boil over medium heat. Add jalapenos and peanuts. Stir well,
and cook until mixture reaches the soft crack stage on a candy
thermometer. Remove from heat. Blend in remaining 1 tablespoon butter,
vanilla extract, almond extract and food coloring until well mixed.
Sprinkle baking soda evenly over the cooked mixture and stir well. When
foamy, pour immediately onto the prepared jellyroll pan. Spread out
into a thin layer. Let cool on jellyroll pan until until brittle and
cool enough to handle. Break into irregular pieces. Store in an
airtight container.

Recipe Location:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/30/Jalapeno_Peanut_Brittle49224.shtml
Recipe ID: 4207

This recipe is from CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

pamjd said:

Cook this to hard crack not soft crack like the recipe says.
Jalapeno Peanut Brittle
CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

I tried this recipe already. You can only get it up to a soft
crack (about 275-280F), as this is when the jalapeno starts to
burn.

-sw

On Wed 22 Mar 2006 08:01:36p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Steve Wertz?

Quoted message said:

pamjd said:

Cook this to hard crack not soft crack like the recipe says.
Jalapeno Peanut Brittle
CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

I tried this recipe already. You can only get it up to a soft
crack (about 275-280F), as this is when the jalapeno starts to
burn.

What about using freeze-dried jalapeno and adding it when you add the butter?

--
Wayne Boatwright o¿o
____________________

BIOYA

It worked for me. That is what I did with the brittle I sent to Nancy.
Maybe it was a fluke. I will try to make some more this weekend.

On 23 Mar 2006 04:44:52 +0100, Wayne Boatwright

wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com said:

What about using freeze-dried jalapeno and adding it when you add the butter?

That's basically what I'm doing - just after I add the butter. The
japs need to be minced fairly fine to get the flavor distributed
evenly. Dehydrated don't quite have the same flavor, though.
It's all heat, no noticeable jap flavor like I had while using the
fresh (but could only get soft crack stage).

-sw

pamjd said:

It worked for me. That is what I did with the brittle I sent to Nancy.
Maybe it was a fluke. I will try to make some more this weekend.

They just burned on me. I tried it with and without sauteeing the
japs first.

-sw

On Wed 22 Mar 2006 09:54:06p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Steve
Wertz?

Quoted message said:

On 23 Mar 2006 04:44:52 +0100, Wayne Boatwright

wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com said:

What about using freeze-dried jalapeno and adding it when you add the
butter?

That's basically what I'm doing - just after I add the butter. The
japs need to be minced fairly fine to get the flavor distributed
evenly. Dehydrated don't quite have the same flavor, though.
It's all heat, no noticeable jap flavor like I had while using the
fresh (but could only get soft crack stage).

-sw

Have you tried freeze-dried as opposed to merely dehydrated? There is a
difference, although it may still not have the flavor you want.

--
Wayne Boatwright o¿o
____________________

BIOYA

: 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.

Forget the Jalapenos and use a few tablespoons of good ground red chile like
Chimayo instead. Much better!