Firsts: Concord Grapes

Today, I tasted my first Concord grape in its natural form! And it tastes just like the ubiquitous grape-y flavor found in so many purple grape-flavored products (juice, jelly, candy, cough syrup, etc.). The flavor is not as concentrated in a fresh grape as those products, but it is very recognizable. I knew Concord grapes are used in products like Welch's or Kedem grape juices, but never had a fresh Concord grape. So to taste that flavor from the natural source is exciting.

The grapes are marble-sized and have a thicker skin than typical red and green varieties often sold in stores. The skin slips off easily and the meat/flesh of the grape has a jelly-like texture. It reminds me of eating muscadines. Concords do have seeds so be careful not to chomp down on them (bitter, blech).

Because Concords are not available year-round, I never paid attention to when they're in season or shopped for them before...until this past May when I tried a cake recipe from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook that included a Concord grape coulis. I looked up seasonal availability and quickly learned they weren't available until fall. (Don't worry, I still made the cake and used blueberries that were in abundance.) Since then, I put Concord grapes on my mental food watch list to try when they came into season.

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted some at the Union Square Greenmarket but they were pricey. I searched for them at a few grocery stores that I regularly visit but had no luck finding them. So when I saw them again at Union Square, I sucked it up and grabbed a basket so I didn't miss out on the season. $8 for a quart (no idea how much it weighs). Boy do their sweet juices bring all the bees to the stand. I tapped my basket to try to rid any bees hiding in the grapes. Luckily, none flew out on the way home and fingers crossed I don't find one buried in there later.

I want to try a new recipe but had zero ideas of what to make with Concords. Unfortunately, not many recipes came up in my search that appealed to me. Plenty of jam recipes came up on Google but I'm just not into canning. Another popular recipe is Smitten Kitchen's Grape Focaccia with Rosemary or similar variations of it. I'd love to try it but just not feeling up to making my own bread. 

Well, I decided to try a muffin recipe from In Jennie's Kitchen blog. See more on that here.