Musings of a Vintage Junkie: Concord grapes

Showing posts with label Concord grapes. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Concord Grape Pie and Grape Bread....a Labor of Love

One of the things I look forward to most in anticipation of Fall is all the great baking I can do.

One of my most favorite thing to make is grape pie from Concord grapes grown in the Finger Lakes.

I just need to drive about 45 minutes to get to Naples, NY where the grapes are homegrown in abundance. I like to stop at roadside stands to buy them or go to Joseph's Farm Market just on the edge of town.

The drive down there is beautiful, especially in the Fall and the scenery all the way never gets old.

Making grape pie is a labor of love. Harvesting the grapes is not part of it but I did have a summer job once where I had to tie all the long vines up before the fruit appeared so they could hold the weight of the grape clusters.

We will start with these...

I call it a labor of love because of how you have to prepare the grapes. It is not hard, just time consuming.

You have to squeeze the grape out of it's skin......on all of them!

Cook them down and then smash the seeds out of the pulp....

Here's the recipe so you can get started. It is from Applehood and Motherpie, a local Junior League cookbook.

Finger Lakes Grape Pie with Two
Crusts or Streusel Topping

Two pie crusts for the two crust version. One pie crust for the Streusel version. I use Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crusts. I think they are as good as homemade.

For the Filling:

3 cups Concord grapes

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Wash, drain and stem grapes. Remove and reserve skins. Simmer pulp for 5 minutes.

While hot, press pulp through sieve to remove seeds, or use a pestle and strainer.

Combine strained pulp with skins.

Combine sugar and flour and add to grapes. Blend in lemon juice and butter.

Pour into crust. If using Pillsbury pie crust, you will have a second crust for the top or you can use the streusel topping below.

For the Streusel topping:

This recipe is from Thru the Grapevine, another Fingers Lakes region cookbook.

1/2 cup quick cooking oats Mix oats, sugar and flour; cut in butter.

1/2 cup brown sugar Place on top of pie.

1/4 cup flour

4 tablespoons butter

Bake the pie at 425 for 10 minutes and then 350 for 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

I had a bunch of grapes left over so I decided to try Grape Bread. I had just enough to make the filling and it was similar to preparing the grapes for the pie. Bonus! It makes two loaves!

Just look at this gorgeous purple dough!

Not as pretty when they are baked....

But oh so delicious!!

Here is the recipe I used. I got it online from the Farmer's Almanac Staff.

Concord Grape Bread

1 cup Concord grapes

2 1/3 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

Remove grapes from stems and wash. Slip skins from grapes and set aside. Bring pulp to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Press through sieve to remove seeds. Add skins to pulp and place in blender for a few seconds.

Bring grapes to a boil and simmer 20 minutes.

Mix together 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch until well blended. Add this mixture and the lemon juice to the grape pulp and bring to a boil again. Cook for 5 minutes until thick. Allow to cool.

Add eggs, oil, 2 cups sugar, and vanilla.

Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the grape mixture. Stir until moistened.

Pour into two greased and floured 9 x 5 bread pans.

Bake at 350 for one hour (mine was done in about 56 minutes).

Enjoy!!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these blog parties this week:

Wonderful Wednesday
Talk of the Town
Full Plate Thursday
Best of the Weekend
Anything Goes Pink Saturday
Happiness is Homemade
Dishing It & Digging It

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Fruits of My Adventure and A Grape Pie Recipe

I am still relishing in my weekend in Naples and as I promised, the recipe for the grape pie is in this post. There are some random tidbits from my trip that have created memories for me that I wanted to share with you first. If you just can't wait and just want the pie recipe already....scroll to the bottom!

This is the vineyard next door to the Guest House we stayed in, right on Main Street, Naples. I walked up to it to see if there were still grapes on the vines and the strong, pungent smell of concord grapes told me YES even before I reached them!

The proprietors of the Guest House are a sweet couple with a unique sense of style inside and out. In their backyard I found this fabulous, old, chippy boat all moored up as if it were at the lake.

Inside, the décor was so pretty with lots of warm browns, reds, oranges and golds for color, perfect for this time of year.

I happened to notice the doorknob on the bedroom door. Very unique!

Joseph's Wayside Market is a wonderful open air farm market with a huge variety of things. I hadn't gotten my gourds or Indian corn yet for the season so I picked them up there along with a Mexican Hat Squash. I don't know if you are supposed to eat it or not.....I just thought it would go perfect on the centerpiece for my dining room table I was already putting together in my head with all the things I was buying. It is that big orange striped thing in the middle that looks like, well, a Mexican hat!

I had seen a blog post on using an old piece of wood or a plank as a centerpiece and then just adding whatever decorative items to enhance your theme. I found an old plank of knotty pine in the garage and that became the base for my centerpiece. I added a vintage crocheted runner for contrast.

I picked up a bunch of Bittersweet at the grape stand for $4 (which is really cheap!) and added my vintage quail planter and some waxed leaves. I love how it all turned out.

On our way out of town heading toward home, we found a quaint farm stand surrounded by vineyards with lots of grapes for sale.

I learned from these sisters that the only color grape to make a pie with is the dark purple, or concord grape. The others are for eating and boy, are they delicious!

Oops, I forgot to take a picture of the whole pie before I just had to try a sliver of it. It was worth the not so perfect picture!

The recipe I used comes from Applehood and Motherpie, a favorite of mine and a cookbook I have mentioned and posted numerous recipes from. Actually I used three different recipes for this pie from two different cookbooks. My husband's boss said it was the best grape pie he ever tasted so I guess that's okay to do!

Some how-to pictures to follow.

Finger Lakes Grape Pie

For the Crust:

I use this crust for most pies because it is so easy and so good. It is also from Applehood and Motherpie.

2/3 cup shortening Cream shortening with salt.

1 teaspoon salt Add boiling water and mix with a whisk.

1/4 cup boiling water Add flour. Mix.

1 1/2 cups flour Press crust into 9" pie plate

For the Filling:

This filling makes enough for two pies

3 cups Concord grapes
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Wash, drain and stem grapes. Remove and reserve skins. Simmer pulp for 5 minutes.
While hot, press pulp through sieve to remove seeds, or use a pestle and strainer.
Combine strained pulp with skins.
Combine sugar and flour and add to grapes. Blend in lemon juice and butter.
Pour into crust. Cover with topping.

For the Streusel topping:

I like a streusel top better but you can use your own recipe for two pie crusts for top and bottom.

This recipe is from Thru the Grapevine, another Fingers Lakes region cookbook.

1/2 cup quick cooking oats Mix oats, sugar and flour; cut in butter.

1/2 cup brown sugar Place on top of pie.

1/4 cup flour

4 tablespoons butter

Bake the pie at 425 for 10 minutes and then 350 for 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.

Some how-to pictures.....

The easiest way to get the skins off is just to squeeze the grape and they pop right off.

I used a pestle and a strainer to separate the seeds. Worked great!

The finished pie, all juicy and crunchy and sweet at the same time. This pie did not last long in my house of reformed non-pie eaters! The other one is in the freezer for another time.