Sunday, November 09, 2008

Concord Grape Pie: A Dessert to Live For

Concord Grape Pie

Last Thursday, I saw Salman Rushdie speak on religion and tolerance, and he presented a bleak outlook on the world, full of pessimism. He took questions from the audience, and the last question was stark, "What, sir, do you live for?" Rushdie replied, "dinner." And we all left to eat ours.

As I ate some of this ridiculously amazing Concord Grape Pie later that evening, I thought of Rushdie's statement. Why do we always term fabulous desserts "to die for"? This my friends--it's a pie to live for--despite all the bad in the world, to know that you could have just one more bite of this pie sometime in the future--well that's a fine prospect indeed.

Concord grapes are as sweet as can be, with what I can only term "real" grape-y flavor. On the East Coast you can find them at your farmer's market this time of year. Their only downside? Seeds. Fellow foodblogger Kathy at Not Eating Out in New York lamented this fact when she shared her version of this pie. However, the recipe I used gets around this easily. You squeeze the grapes out of their skins (reserving the skins) and boil the insides, then push the insides through a mesh strainer. The skins, the now-seedless insides, some sugar, flour and a bit of lemon juice all get mixed up and baked in a pie crust with a brown-sugar streusel crust.

You can find the recipe here at Lisa's Kitchen. I will admit it--I cheated with a store bought pie crust, but the grapes are so magical, it's really not important. Be sure to let the pie cool completely before you dig in--that gives the filling time to set. Enjoy!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the food.Very, very cool.

Andy Guo

Anonymous said...

Glad to see you back in action. J's work, tho' one in (a thousand?)also is always welcome. We are just finishing the first bottle of Slipping Summer- the second will probably grace our holiday table.

Reviving our motto from a couple years ago, "Secret's in the Sauce", we are now using Gram and Gretch's jams and jellies to make quick and yummy sauces for our SMALL- to live for -portions of meat. Last night: blackberry jelly, marjoram, garlic and brandy over rare beef chuck roast.

Anonymous said...

I made this pie today. I'm not a baker. IT'S PHENOMENAL!!!!Thank you for sharing this recipe. It truly is a pie to live for. Wow.

Erin S. said...

Mara! Yay! Glad you liked it. My husband has been bugging me to make another one--I'll have to see if the concord grapes are still at the market next week.

Sarah-the-Yente said...

I love the Salman Rushdie quote@

Anonymous said...

Lovely post, and I look forward to the day I live to taste this pie!

Lisa Turner said...

Honestly, concord grape pie is still the most heavenly pie I have ever eaten. Glad to hear you enjoyed it too!

Anonymous said...

I think I'm going to have to make this pie. It looks incredible.

David
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Anonymous said...

I wish I could get my pies to look so perfect. Grape pie sounds amazing!

Anonymous said...

My Grandmother had a grape arbor in her backyard. She made concord grape pie every season. I'm never watched her make this pie however, but she made it with a sour cream based crust. (if appeared very white after baking with just the slightest color around the edges) Would love that recipe , if it exists..

Anonymous said...

This Grape Pie looks so beautiful with the colors, I'm sure it'll be a big hit with the kids! Nice colors! Although I'm to a big fan of Grape Pie, this sure looks yummy! I'm normally the one that will say no to Grape Pie.

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