Recipe corner - Apple Chips.

Someone must be reading this blog because it gets hits, thanks guys :)  so please don’t be scared to see food mentioned, I have planned to write about it as I am obsessed with food anything and everything. The below piece was written back in June and luckily  I found again it so I didn’t have to re-do it and it gets to be organic, you know, from the moment when writing is at it’s best and freshest ( gee like food)…

June 2013 - THE APPLE

                                           

Forget Adam and Eve, my kitchen smells like fall today and never mind that its’ the end of June which has been a climatic ying yang here in NY, ze magnificent apple was born to be sliced, spiced and baked to perfection into a chip that makes one swoon and I’m talking a total light bulb moment here followed by greedy obsession.  

Apple chips made at home, easier than a nap :) well almost...  these are certainly healthier and cheaper to make than they are to find and I didn’t realize I liked apples this much until I made this snack. So it’s Saturday and I wake up early into a cloudy gray morning feeling the late night shenanigans involving Asahi, which is a fabulous Japanese beer btw, but it’s still better than a work day so I’ll take it with a cup of coffee in bed followed by a read ( Trapped By J. A  Konrath and more on that later) which is pure super horror without complaints.  Weekends are so great for eating, resting and reading with a nap here and there.

I don’t love apples like a maniac but I am aware how beneficial they are to the human body, so eat up readers! I made this recipe five times in one day and used different types of apple (Gala, Braueburn and Granny Smith and also a Bosch Pear ) so here are some helpful hints and observations, not to stress the potential person trying to create it, but like that magazine Cooks Illustrated does by trial and error so please enjoy my findings. This recipe comes form a cooking show I saw today, recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis ( minus the dip, I didn’t make it and didn’t need it). My only change is using a Silpat silicone mat instead of parchment which could burn your apple chips really easy, perhaps that’s why such a weird rating online for it, so I edited it out. On a random note, Giada's grandfather filmed my favorite movies, the two Conan ones from the 80's Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, sigh.. oh sorry ok back to the food. Images of the actual chip are my own, sorry taken with a crappy phone but still better than nothing.

Apple Chips
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Serves:
4 Servings

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Apple Chips:

1 red Gala apple
One 6-ounce Granny Smith apple

Directions

For the chips: Place 1 rack at the top and 1 at the bottom position and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 2 large heavy baking sheets with a SILPAT silicon mat in correct size to your sheet.

For the topping: In a small bowl, stir the sugar, cinnamon and salt until blended.

For the apple chips: Stand each apple upright. Cut 1/4 inch vertically off the right and left sides of each apple. Set the mandoline ( please use the hand guard that comes with it!)or v-slicer for cutting 1/16-inch-thick slices. Place 1 apple, cut-side down, on the slicer. Cut slices until the apple core is exposed. Turn the apple over and cut slices off the remaining side until the core is exposed. Arrange the apple slices in a single layer on one of the baking sheets. Repeat with the second apple.

Using your fingertips, sprinkle the apple slices generously with the topping. Bake until the edges curl and the chips are golden and feel crisp, 40 to 45 minutes. Pull the Silpat with the apples onto the work surface and cool completely, 20 to 30 minutes (the chips will crisp more as they cool == but get soggier the longer they are out in general ).

- I use a silicone baking mat, Silpat and recommend that you do the same, it’s an invaluable kitchen tool anyway, good to have. It can make a difference between a burned chip and perfectly protected gourmet treat.

- make sure to mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon together rather well, don’t sprinkle it in impersonal layers, cinnamon will burn and don’t overdo the cinnamon either, it will be great as is.

- if you like to preheat the oven for a long time before staring ( more than 30 min) don’t go to 45 min of bake time, end it at 38 or it will get very dark and very crispy and most likely taste like butt.

- The more sour apples tended to get crispier, opposite of what I thought! Granny Smith was very crispy and dark, sweeter apples which is not what I crave over green apples which were my first apple love, seemed better for less paper thin baked chip, so try out a few and see which one tastes best.

- Letting the chips sit 20 min after baking is best, I use plastic tongs to slip the Silpat off the cooking sheet and let it rest on a marble counter or any heat resistant surface, set a timer then enjoy!