concord grape jam

phillies, october, tastes like grape candy

If you haven’t had a concord grape, you’re missing out. A big tradition of mine was walking around at the restaurant I worked at, asking people if they’d ever tried one. If they hadn’t, I would hand one over, warn them about the seeds, and watch their mind explode. It wasn’t always positive (I discovered who really, really didn’t like grape cough syrup), but it was always fun. I found a great deal on these guys at my local Whole Foods, so keep your eyes peeled, buy a pound when you can, and make this jam to swirl on toast, over ice cream, etc. It’s worth it.

your peanut butter should have an ingredient list that is just peanuts and salt 4 optimal peanutti-ness

Odds are, if you like grape jelly, you’re gonna love this. This is a very fussy way to make grape jam, but I think it imparts the most flavor, and you get to do a icky-sticky-pop ‘em out move that is very Halloween-y. This way, you can separate the seeds from the flesh without blitzing them in (ew, bitter), and you still get the benefit of all the color and flavor from the skins.

swirly

I’ll leave you with this, as I turn the rest of my focus to the Phillies game. Living in Philadelphia turned me into a pretty rabid fan, and now I get to read my civil procedure cases while watching Schwarber whack ‘em out of the park. Not too shabby. Maybe I’ll even make a piece of toast.

last year, but haven’t stopped thinking about it

concord grape jam
makes about 1 cup, ish

1 pound (454g) concord grapes, picked through

1/2 cup sugar (100g)

2 tablespoons lemon juice (28g)

directions

Grab a grape, and squeeze it so the flesh pops out of the middle. Put the flesh in a small saucepan, and the skins in a medium bowl. Repeat with all grapes. Bring the saucepan of flesh to a simmer over medium heat, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, smushing the grapes up against the side with a spoon or spatula, until the flesh is broken down and the seeds are free-floating. Remove from heat and let cool a little.

Set a fine-mesh strainer over the grape skins and push the cooked flesh through it. Discard the seeds. Transfer the skins and strained flesh back to the small saucepan. If you like, blend this mixture to your desired consistency. I blend it to almost smooth, with some flecks of skin left (use an immersion blender for easy clean-up).

Add the sugar and lemon juice to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stirring occasionally, cook until jam is reduced, syrupy and measures 220F on a thermometer, 15-20 minutes. Pour the hot jam into a jar and let cool. Store in fridge.

side notes:

Ethan’s dad came to town, and we went to Anelya. It was tasty tasty. Get the eggplant rolls, varenyky, honey cake, and anything containing the horseradish infusion.