Grape Jelly
copyright 2010 eat.write.think
This recipe was a result of a case of sour grapes, that happened recently. Quite simply I picked up a bunch of green grapes that were a little too tart, so it sat languishing in the fridge where the cold temps was doing nothing to slow down the ageing process. I googled frantically, I knew what I didn’t want:
1. I didn’t want to make a jam or jelly, I’d have to add sugar and I don’t think in the long run it’ll be consumed by anyone other than me. My daughter is not a sandwich eater and neither is B, my husband. And I am, I am!
2. I didn’t want to bake, its too much when you have to cook, clean, do dishes, do laundry and be the primary caregiver of a precocious 3 year old! Welcome to my ’servantless’ home!
3. I didn’t want to freeze, no ice creams or sorbets, the weather’s just not right and I have been recovering from a nasty cold.
4. I didn’t want anything that took me more than 30 minutes to put together!
copyright 2010 eat.write.think
And so I came upon this interesting Italian dish from a site called italian-food-lovers.com (this link doesn’t work any more, maybe they changed their mind?!), this recipe for Italian grape jelly, is supposed to be a local Italian favorite, if any Italians are reading this do correct me I am just going by what I remember reading at the site which doesn’t open any more. Let me tell you this is a beautiful recipe, you can put it together really fast and Mr. B loved it and found it very ‘soothing to the tummy‘!! I’ve tweaked the original recipe ever so lightly, and added vanilla extract and orange rind, of course we are allowed to improvise. Like they say, “the idea belongs to everybody, but the dish belongs to you”.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups green grapes
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Method
1. Wash and de-stem the grapes, and put into a large bowl.
2. Mash the grapes with your bare hands or with a potato masher, mash away till the juices begin to flow. I was surprised when I saw the amount of juice I got from just one bunch.
copyright 2010 eat.write.think
3. Get another large bowl, place a large fine mesh sieve over it, and strain the juice. Discard the skin.
4. Now add the sugar and vanilla essence and whisk the juice, followed by the flour. Add a little flour at a time.
5. Pour the mixture into a medium size stockpot and cook on medium heat, whisking all the while. When the mixture starts bubbling reduce heat to low and continue whisking till the juice becomes thick and custardy. Remember it should be thick but not clumpy, mine could have been thicker by one more degree.
6. While still warm pour into ramekins, or silicone muffin tray (like I have), or small bowls which have been lined with cling wrap. Add some orange rind into each bowl and refrigerate for 4, 5 hours. This will set the jelly.
7. To serve, turn into dessert plates, garnish with fresh cream, mint, and orange rind or fruits of your choice. I really liked the citrus combination. Definitely going to make this again, and I worked at break neck speed, it really took me around 30 minutes to put this together, then shoved it into the fridge.
copyright 2010 eat.write.think
This is our entry for Sugar High Friday: Sweet Comfort being hosted by Kate from A Merrier World.
this is just too too fabulous! will try when my current madness ends…why o why cant we live on the same street…scrumptious pics as always
Very clever of you to turn sour grapes into Jelly. Looks really good, and takes short time too.
Im actually hitting myself on the head right now..i gave away 3 kgs of grapes to my maid just yesterday…i spent two days wondering what to make with them…dont ask me what i was doing with those many grapes- its complicated:)
This looks super!
I just made everyone in my household eat the sour grapes we had last week – I know, Hitler that I am
This looks like you really racked your brains to come up with something more edible – and looks delicious!
Hey yes in the navy..now in Goa…whats ur friends name?
oh wow, that looks so pretty! I like how your approach was to base upon what you do not want to make
Lovely pics, nice DOF.
Lovely pics esp the first one!
Hi Rajni
thanks for visiting my blog…you have a nice space here…Delectable Grapes Jelly..yummy…
cheers
Quick thinking & great result…Love what you did with it Rajani. Love your platter too! All gorgeous!
hello,
thanks for visiting my blog, this is my first time here too,
love your food, and recipes looks delicious, this grape jelly
reminds me of a dessert we call malban similar to turkish Delights and we add sugar and spices then let them set and cut them into pieces
like the idea of your silicon molds
Rajani, this is too good!! I made my family eat sour grapes last week… didn’t know what else to do with them
I’ll try this next time around… Can be set in regular ceramic or glass containers too?
yes, just line them with clingwrap with the ends sticking out.
What a lovely way to avoid wasting all of those grapes! Your jelly certainly sounds very soothing and comforting.
Thanks for entering SHF
I love the fact that you did not let those grapes die of their own natural death in the fridge!
I love that recipe too because it is a dessert but does not require too much effort or sugar!
Have you ever tried making vinegar from grapes?
no i have never made vinegar. but i’ ve been reading about fruit vinegars recently, particularly pineapple vinegar.
WOw, that looks incredible, beautiful presentation…didnt know till today..that we can whip such a beautiful treat with sour fruits:) Hats off to ur effort:)
[...] Rajani from Eatwritethink solves a case of sour grapes by making a soothing Grape Jelly. [...]
thanks for that