These chips make an intriguing and flavorful garnish for fruit
desserts. Choose firm, unblemished apples and pears. Pears should
be slightly under ripe.
STEP 1: Boil simple syrup.
STEP 2: Poach fruit slices in syrup until transparent.
STEP 3: Plunge fruit slices in ice water.
STEP 4: Dry out fruit slices in low-temperature
oven.
Method:
Preheat oven to 225°F. Bring water, sugar and lemon juice
to a boil in a wide, shallow saucepan. Lower heat and keep syrup
at barely a simmer. Have a pan of ice water on hand and a sheet
pan lined with a Silpat®.
Slice apple and pear with skins on, using an electric slicer
or mandolin. Each slice should measure approximately 1 millimeter
thick. Drop fruit slices into simmering syrup, working in batches,
and allow fruit to poach for about 3 minutes, or until they look
translucent. Remove fruit from syrup with a slotted spoon or spatula
and quickly plunge into ice water. Place the next batch of slices
into syrup and while they are poaching, remove the first batch
from the ice water and lay on sheet pan, smoothing with fingers
to flatten and remove air bubbles from underneath.
When the sheet pan is full, place in oven and allow chips to
dry. When slices begin to look dry on top but are still soft,
carefully peel them from the Silpat® and flip them over. Continue
to dry in the oven until a chip, when cooled, breaks sharply.
Store chips between layers of parchment in an airtight container
at room temperature.
