Food for Thought: Concord Grape Jelly

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Concord Grape Jelly

I was very happy when several litres of Concord grapes arrived on my doorstep. My husband accepted them gleefully, stating his fondness for blueberry pie, thereby illustrating his ongoing issue with fruit identification. This morning while proudly handing me the Fall 2015 issue of the LCBO Food and Drink magazine, he commented on the "summer drink with lobster" on its cover, which I later identified as a very autumnal "Johnny Apple Cocktail" garnished with, guess what, apple slices. I hope he's just trying to amuse me.

Back to the grape jelly.

Concord Grapes...perfect little globes of purple goodness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concord_(grape)

Ingredients:
- 4 litres of Concord grapes
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 and 3/4 cups of granulated white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon butter (to reduce foaming)
- 1 packet of liquid pectin (like Certo)

Instructions:
Stem the fruit and place in a large and heavy pot along with 1/2 cup of water. Crush the fruit well with a potato masher. Simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

The simmering mash

Pour the cooked fruit through a dampened jelly bag or a cheesecloth lined sieve. Let the juice drip undisturbed for at least 2 hours or overnight (refrigerated). As per my friend's recommendation, I strained the juice a second time prior to measuring it for use in jelly-making. In a large heavy-bottomed pot add the sugar and butter to 4 cups of grape juice. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Then add 1 pouch of liquid pectin and boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly. Fill and seal sterilized canning jars (as per previous instructions on this blog... see http://princessbubba.blogspot.ca/2015/06/strawberry-jam.html )

Getting ready to strain the mash

The dusky dark purple jelly

'To Cut the Mustard'

Meaning: To succeed; to come up to expectations.

Origin: Why cutting mustard was chosen as an example of high quality is unclear. Some possibilities allude to the literal difficulty of cutting mustard;for example: - Mustard seed, which is hard to cut with a knife on account of being small and shiny. - Mustard plants, which are tough and stringy and grow densely. - Culinary mustard, which is cut (diluted) and made more palatable by the addition of vinegar. - Dried mustard paste, which was reputedly used to coat meat and then dried to form a crust.

The love of olive oil...

I finally figured it out...why I love olive oil so much. It was the television programming I was exposed to as a child. See the following description, from the online Encylclopedia Britanica, of a character I admired. I lusted after the large boxes of chocolates she would consume in one sitting.

Tall, gangly, big-footed Olive Oyl, whose black hair was almost always tied back in a bun, first co-starred with her brother, Castor Oyl, in 1919 in the newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre. For the strip’s first 10 years, she was the girlfriend of Castor’s layabout pal, Ham Gravy, and her jealousy over his wandering eye fueled many comedic episodes. However, soon after the introduction of Popeye in 1929, Ham was written out of the strip as Olive found true love with the salty sailor. In this coupling, she was the more fickle character, as from time to time she became drawn to suitors with more education and refinement than the scrappy, wisecracking Popeye, though he always won her back. Popeye rescued Olive Oyl hundreds of times from the nefarious bully Bluto.

A Funky Review of a Funky Cookbook by a Funky Girl

“Bite me speaks to more than your stomach,” reads an excerpt on one of the first pages of the newly released cookbook, Bite me, by sassy sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. From the tongue in cheek, retro photographs that grace many of the pages to the aptly chosen, often perfectly crude quotations; Bite me is a cookbook that also speaks to your sense of humour and playfulness.
The book is decidedly un-pretentious, which is exactly what the sisters had in mind when creating the book, and exactly what appeals to me as a twenty something with not much experience in the kitchen. At the book’s launch on October 6th at an Indigo location in Toronto, Julie was the first to boast that many of the props in the self-published book came from the dollar store. The price- perfect. The look- genius. The props convey just the right amount of kitsch and comedy.
Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo and famous as Heather of ‘Heather’s Picks’ obviously saw the same genius in these first time authors. The book is now the first cookbook to ever be chosen as a ‘Heather’s Pick’ at Chapters and Indigo stores nationwide.
I personally know Julie Albert, as I tutor her adorable, charming son Benjy, here in Toronto, Ontario. Julie is most often seen looking flawless, but approachable- laid back in jeans or yoga pants, shuffling her kids from one activity to another. She is exactly the involved Mom who wants delicious, easy, home cooking with a twist, to feed to her family. That was the goal for the sisters- no mushroom foam, no truffle scented this or that. Just fun, easy variations on your favourites- using simple ingredients with a dash of wit, and some of Lisa and Julie’s own kitchen secrets. Oh- and a man with his head stuffed down a woman’s shirt. You have to buy the book to take a look at that last one.
I am buying the book for all the cooks in my family this Christmas. Even for a cook with many books, this one is a standout- almost more coffee table material than shelved with other cookery bibles.
If you need a giggle- go buy it. If you need a recipe for pecan crusted lime chicken- buy it. To the self-professedly “not so sweet, tiny-bit salty” sisters- great job. I forkin’ love it.

Jessie Bass-West

Link to Bite me http://www.bitemecookbook.com/

Pages

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Concord Grape Jelly