(Tasteless) Ontario Blue Seedless Grapes

[Darienne]

They looked lovely in their big clam-shell, all 2 liters of them. And I had never tried them before. A sort of Concord variety I thought. From Canada's grape and wine producing area. And no seeds.

Two liters of tasteless grapes. DH said 'throw them out'.

Any ideas for that many basically tasteless grapes? Should I make a grape juice? sherbet? rustic grape pie? ...or just toss them?

[baroness]

Try googling 'schiacciata;' it is a flatbread with grapes baked into it.

You could enhance the grapes' flavor by halving them and soaking in a bit of booze first.

[Darienne]

Wonderful. There is the pie which I considered making last fall when my neighbor/friend/landlady in Moab had such a crop of various kinds of seeded grapes, including Concord. DH would not consider eating a pie with crunchy seeds in it. Hey! He brings me coffee in bed every morning. He gets to pick what he wants to eat.

Haven't quite decided which one to make but I need your advice on what booze to use? A wine? What about a liqueur? I have a goodly assortment of liqueurs. And always vodka is on hand.

Thanks.Baroness

[Lisa Shock]

Just so you know, making Concord grape pie usually involves removing the seeds prior to assembly.

[Darienne]

Just so you know, making Concord grape pie usually involves removing the seeds prior to assembly.

Thanks, Lisa, but these ARE seedless.

[baroness]

Wonderful. There is the pie which I considered making last fall when my neighbor/friend/landlady in Moab had such a crop of various kinds of seeded grapes, including Concord. DH would not consider eating a pie with crunchy seeds in it. Hey! He brings me coffee in bed every morning. He gets to pick what he wants to eat.

Haven't quite decided which one to make but I need your advice on what booze to use? A wine? What about a liqueur? I have a goodly assortment of liqueurs. And always vodka is on hand.

Thanks.Baroness

Booze depends on what you like; perhaps grappa, perhaps something more neutral. I'd like just a hint of anisette, personally.

For a savory dish, there's always sausages baked with grapes and onions -- simple but more than the sum of its parts.

[djyee100]

My instinct is to roast the grapes, to concentrate whatever flavor they do have. That's what I do with blah-tasting winter tomatoes, and they turn out remarkably good.

Alice Waters has a blurb about roasting grapes in her Fruit cookbook. Cut the grapes into small clusters, rub with a little olive oil, and lay in single layer on a baking dish or sheet pan. Roast in a very hot oven (450-500 degrees, I'm guessing) for 10 mins until the grapes are heated through and slightly puckered. Waters says to serve these with roasted meats. I bet they would taste good with fish or poultry too.

Once you have some better-tasting roasted grapes (one hopes) you can think about other uses for them, like a pie, a confit, or a sauce.

[CaliPoutine]

Anna Olson has a recipe for a foccacia with grapes( I think she used the soverign coronation grapes). I was soooo dissapointed in the peaches from Niagara this year. Totally tasteless!!

[Kerry Beal]

For a savory dish, there's always sausages baked with grapes and onions -- simple but more than the sum of its parts.

Anything more to it than just bunging them all in a pan with a little oil - or is there a recipe I should follow. Like the sound of this.

[baroness]

Roasted Sausages with Red Grapes

2 large yellow onions, chopped

4 Italian sausages, about 6 oz. each

1 lb. red seedless grapes

approx. 1/4 c EV olive oil

salt

2 T good balsamic vinegar, or to taste

Oven 475F. Brown onions and sausages (do not need to cook through now). Wash grapes; drain and toss with oil. Place onions and sausages in 8" square pan and top with the grapes. Bake 25 min, turning sausages once. Plate the sausages; put the grapes and juices into a small pan, season, and reduce to syrupy. Take off the heat, add balsamic to taste, and pour over meat. Good with potatoes and greens.

[Darienne]

Made Schiacciata con l'uva (Recipe #1) and either I made a gross error...immanently possible...or I am not in tune with this recipe. Not to mention baking it for twice as long as called for. Have to test the oven this morning.

It is to me neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring. Too sweet to be a bread and not sweet enough to be a cake. The grapes taste just fine...it's the crumb. However, DH likes it and that's good enough for me.

Fooey. Actually took a photo of the bread and cannot upload it on 'edit'.

Edited September 30, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

There. Just because I finally remembered to take a photo of something I made. Guess I'm not a true eGulleter yet.

[baroness]

There. Just because I finally remembered to take a photo of something I made. Guess I'm not a true eGulleter yet.

I think you are a true eGulleteer; sometimes appetite triumphs over photography.

[Pierogi]

Roasted Sausages with Red Grapes

2 large yellow onions, chopped

4 Italian sausages, about 6 oz. each

1 lb. red seedless grapes

approx. 1/4 c EV olive oil

salt

2 T good balsamic vinegar, or to taste

Oven 475F. Brown onions and sausages (do not need to cook through now). Wash grapes; drain and toss with oil. Place onions and sausages in 8" square pan and top with the grapes. Bake 25 min, turning sausages once. Plate the sausages; put the grapes and juices into a small pan, season, and reduce to syrupy. Take off the heat, add balsamic to taste, and pour over meat. Good with potatoes and greens.

I do this *all* the time in the fall when the California grapes start coming in. Good with all colors of grapes as well. People turn up their noses at the thought of the combo of roasted grapes and Italian sausages, but it is a combination made in culinary Heaven. Soooo good. About time to make this again, with the weather cooling and the grapes at their peak.

[baroness]

Of course you can use other grapes, or a mix - I find the green ones to be less flavorful.

I like various chicken sausages (parsley-cheese, spinach-Asiago, apple, etc.) in this dish for a lighter result, too.

[Darienne]

Thought I should finish off my Schiacciata con l'uva rant.

Sudden thought...what if we split it in half horizontally, toasted and buttered it and presto, very delicious. Of course, like raisin bread which I like when toasted, not untoasted. Finis.

ps. Not quite. Going to roast the rest to see what they taste like.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[KarenDW]

Thought I should finish off my Schiacciata con l'uva rant.

Sudden thought...what if we split it in half horizontally, toasted and buttered it and presto, very delicious. Of course, like raisin bread which I like when toasted, not untoasted. Finis.

ps. Not quite. Going to roast the rest to see what they taste like.

just an observation... in my experience the grapes have been sparsely distributed, i.e., 6-10 grapes in a 6-inch cake. The apparent higher density of grapes (shown in the photo) may have contributed to the longer baking time. Also, if the grapes were out of the fridge, rather than room temp, that would increase the time, too. Just my 2 cents.

Oooh! maybe make a schiacciata with the roasted grapes?

[Darienne]

just an observation... in my experience the grapes have been sparsely distributed, i.e., 6-10 grapes in a 6-inch cake. The apparent higher density of grapes (shown in the photo) may have contributed to the longer baking time. Also, if the grapes were out of the fridge, rather than room temp, that would increase the time, too. Just my 2 cents.

Oooh! maybe make a schiacciata with the roasted grapes?

All good points. However the grapes were at room temperature. Perhaps the density is the problem, but I did follow the recipe. Hmmmm...it called for 8" pans, which I used, but it did not specify how many. Rats. I did use two. Three would have been overkill to me, but it would have made the cake/bread flatter.

Your two cents much appreciated.

ps. Can someone please give me the pronunciation of the word schiacciata? She...ash...she...at...ta?

2nd edit: OK I am going to come clean about something. I did not follow the recipe directions to a 'T'.

"Pour the water, olive oil, sugar, aniseed, and eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork. Add the grapes and baking powder to this mixture, and then gradually add the flour".

I have never heard of adding baking powder directly to a huge wet mixture, and so I added it to the flour first and then added the flour/baking powder mixture to the wet mixture. Could someone please comment on this?

Edited October 1, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I am not an expert, but i'd suggest that there would be very little difference in the two techniques, and yours is probably a better way to do it. I can't imagine that the baking powder would behave any differently by having 20 extra seconds in the bowl as the flour is added, and mixing it with the flour ensures good distribution, which is one of the main things to keep in mind. If anything, I'd suggest that putting it in the wet mixture is much more likely to end up with lumps or undesirable results.

[Darienne]

Update on the tasteless blue grape thread: Just reading DL's Room for Dessert yesterday. Wonderful book.

P.84, a recipe for "Concord Grape Pie", DL notes the emergence (1999) of 'seedless Concord-style grapes', suggesting that while some are flavorful, others are definitely not up to par. Mine were not.