SHORTCUTS: Turning up the heat on peaches

Cooking at the Manassas Farmers Market with seasonal produce has afforded me a new venue for creating and testing recipes. I’ve never been a “same-ol’, same-ol’” kind of person and I’m always up for
a challenge when it comes to food.

I wanted to make something new and different with fresh Virginia peaches. I searched the Web for answers. Allrecipes.com had an interesting submission that caught my attention. The specific recipe
called “Double Dare Peaches” combined Habanero peppers with butter, brown sugar, peaches and a pinch of cinnamon to create a sweet/hot glaze served over ice cream and topped with a sprinkling of
crunchy peanut brittle. Sounded like a spin on Bananas Foster to me but with peaches!

My trials came when deciding which pepper to use. It was timely that the September issue of “Everyday with Rachel Ray” magazine listed Scoville ratings for common peppers. Named after its creator,
American chemist Wilbur Scoville, “Scoville ratings measure the pungency of chili peppers in units that correspond to how much capsaicin they have.” Recent studies have shown that the chemical
compound capsaicin has properties that help temporarily relieve muscle pain, joint pain, or nerve pain (About.com).

The hottest pepper on the planet is Habanero, measuring 100,000 to 300,000 Scoville Units. (That said, one vendor pointed out a chili pepper that he markets called “Fatal.”) I knew I would have to tame
this recipe down for the general public, so I collected various peppers and headed for my beautiful new kitchen to conduct taste tests.

The result, one red serrano pepper, a short, tapered fresh chile, provided the perfect amount of capsaicin (10,000 to 23,000 Scoville Units) to trigger an acceptable spark of heat for this syrupy-sweet,
creamy-cool dessert with a crunchy finish!

PEPPY PEACHES “FOSTER:

¼ cup butter — no substitutes!

1 Serrano pepper, halved and seeded *

6 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ gallon vanilla ice cream

½ cup crushed peanut brittle or toffee bits

*Wear plastic gloves or baggies on your hands when handling pepper. Don’t touch your eyes!

Melt butter in nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add pepper halves and cook 5-8 minutes (less time/less heat), stirring frequently. Remove and discard pepper; stir in peaches. Increase heat to
medium-high. Cook and stir until peaches begin to sizzle; add brown sugar and cinnamon. Continue stirring until sauce turns into a golden brown glaze, about 3-5 minutes. Spoon peaches into serving
bowls, top with ice cream and a sprinkle of brittle or toffee bits. Serves 6-8.

Mary Ann Kauchak lives in Lake Ridge. Her third cookbook, “SHORTCUTS, TOO” is available at Mom’s Apple Pie in Occoquan. She can be reached at .