Natural Concord Grape Jelly
My favorite childhood condiment, Concord Grape Jelly. A beautiful shade of purple with a marvelous grapey flavor it has graced many PB&J’s.
My grape jelly has a story and it’s a bit of a sad one but it has a happy ending. It was a beautiful fall afternoon at my local farmer’s market when my eyes caught a glimpse of something that I hadn’t seen since I was a child, Concord Grapes. I was beyond elated and promptly gave the farmer a fist full of dollars for a big beautiful basket. I was beyond excited to eat these grapes when I got home. I was so excited in fact that when I opened the door to my home I dropped the entire bag of very ripe Concord Grapes. The deafening squish was a moment of complete horror. How could I be so clumsy and destroy the very item I was treasuring just moments ago? To say I was devastated would be an understatement. While I was mourning my loss, picking up my shattered grapes from the floor; it occurred to me. I can make jelly from my destroyed purple beauties! My despair immediately turned into excitement as I proudly walked into the kitchen and started cleaning my grapes. An afternoon of tragedy turned into a night of jelly making. My faith in humanity was restored as I made one of my favorite childhood condiments.
Now, since I told you my sob story, let’s get down to business and talk jelly. I kept this recipe very straightforward, just like my summer jams. It’s simply just grapes, sugar, natural pectin from fresh lemon and a pinch of salt. It’s natural, it’s fresh, it’s Concord Grape Jelly at its finest. These jars are going to make the most splendid PB&J.
Juice
6 cups Concord grapes, washed and destemmed
Filtered Water
Jelly
*Makes 3 half pint jars of jelly
Strained Grape Juice
2 cups granulated sugar
1 lemon, juiced
¼ tsp kosher salt
To make juice: Put washed grapes into a medium size pot. Mash lightly with a potato masher and cover the grapes with filtered water. Set on medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. You want the grapes to be soft and bleed out their juice and make the water look, like well, grape juice. Take a food mill with the smallest grates or a mesh strainer and strain the juice away from the skins and seeds. Strain into a bowl and put aside.
To make jelly: Take your freshly made grape juice, sugar, lemon juice and salt; add it all to a medium size pot and stir to dissolve sugar. Set the pot to medium heat and boil until juice has thickened and can pass the frozen spoon test. While hot, put jelly into half pint jars and seal or store in glass jars for the fridge. Sealing the jar will keep it for 18 months and storing it in the fridge will keep it for 3 months. If you need a reference for sealing your jars, please refer to my recipe for Pleasantly Tart Raspberry Jam for full instruction.