Soft Candied Grapefruit Peel Chanterelle

Makes: About 30 slices

When I lived within walking distance of David and Karen Waltuck’s exquisite New York City restaurant Chanterelle, I fell in love with these candied peels and was overjoyed that they shared the recipe. What makes them so special is that Chef Waltuck leaves a thin layer of pulp on each strip of skin, so that they are moist and flavorful. They are also easy to make and will keep up to two days, but the flavor is best on the day they are made.

1 large grapefruit, preferably ruby red	340 grams	12 ounces
fine sea salt	3 grams	½ teaspoon
sugar	200 grams	1 cup, divided

1) Scrub the grapefruit with a little liquid dishwashing detergent and rinse well.

2) Cut the grapefruit into 8 wedges. With a grapefruit knife or sharp paring knife, cut away the peel, leaving ⅛ inch of pulp attached.

3) Cut the wedges of peel lengthwise into ½ inch slices.

4) In a medium saucepan, place the slices and cover them with cold water. Bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and continue boiling for 5 minutes.

5) Drain and rinse the grapefruit peels. Add fresh cold unsalted water again to cover and bring to a second boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse, and repeat boiling with fresh unsalted water. Drain well.

6) In a large skillet, place the grapefruit peels in a single layer and sprinkle with 100 grams/½ cup of the sugar. Cook over very low heat, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent and all of the syrup has been absorbed.

7) Dry the grapefruit peels on a metal rack for 1 to 1½ hours. They should be quite dry so that they will absorb less sugar and retain a crunchy surface but still be succulent.

8) Roll each peel in the remaining 100 grams/½ cup of sugar until coated on all sides. Serve at once or layer between wax paper and refrigerate.

Store

Lightly covered: room temperature, 1 day; refrigerated, 2 days

Scoops

* Select grapefruits with thick rinds. The lighter the weight of the fruit, the thicker the rind. Fruit with pointier ends as opposed to rounded ends tend to have a thicker peel.

* Boiling the peels in several changes of water removes the bitterness.

* Thick-skinned oranges or lemons may be substituted for grapefruit.

* A few drops of liquid food color appropriate to the fruit, added during the third boil, will enhance the color.