Concord Grapes 1: Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Dear Michelle-

I think that might be more of a question for my father than McGee; I consulted On Food and Cooking and the matter of light and capsicum color is not addressed. I'd guess they were picked unripe and ripened naturally, perhaps with help from the heat of any sun that hit them, or the confines of the plastic bag? I'll be sure to ask the ol' pater familias next time we speak.

 

You're missing Concord grape season on this side of the pond. I've never been overtly aware of them until recently, when my friend Ashley reintroduced me. She offered me some as she was eating them at work, and when I exclaimed over the intensity of their flavor she gave them to me. I guess they were a little strong for her, but since they came from her CSA share and all of her roommates were similarly averse, she felt duty-bound to eat them. I couldn't believe anyone wouldn't be immediately addicted to the vibrancy of this flavor! I happily accepted and made some quick refrigerator jelly with them that evening. Then, I got to thinking about how good they'd taste with shortbread and peanut butter (grape jelly and PB being such a classic combination), and the rest was a foregone conclusion. I invited Ashley over to make cookies, a nice way to spend an early Fall weekend afternoon.

These aren't the prettiest cookies, nor are they the easiest to make; but they are really, really good. The jelly is bright and tart, the peanut butter marries with it perfectly, and buttery crumbly shortbread is just the right vehicle. The jelly was easy enough to cook up, as I didn't bother with making a perfect, glistening, clear jelly.

 

I cooked the grapes until they burst, pushed it all through a strainer to get every ounce of flavor out, added enough sugar to make the mixture sweet-tart, and simmered some more till it passed the jelly test. Then I made my "confection" peanut butter mixture of, you guessed it, peanut butter, mixed with almond flour (I'm sure peanut flour would work, if one can find it), confectioner's sugar, and salt. These additives make the peanut butter more workable, and less sticky. I was inspired by the interior of a Reese's PB cup. You know how when you get "natural" peanut butter cups the filling never tastes as good? I think straight peanut butter is too oily, and does that thing where it coats the mouth, which keeps it from properly combing flavors with whatever else might be intended.

 

I tried these out with both shortbread from Bittman's How to Cook Everything and a standard sugar cookie recipe. Where that came from doesn't matter, as the shortbread won the taste tests! It was more delicate, and complimented the flavors of the filling better. It even made a prettier cookie (in the photo of complete cookies on the plate, all excluding the leftmost were made with sugar cookie dough--the rest of the shortbread cookies were long gone by then). I am very fond of the shortbread recipe in the Williams Sonoma Cookies cookbook, but that shortbread tends to be really crumbly and delicate, and so I thought I'd give Bittman a chance. I'm glad I did.

 

Ashley and I cut, rolled, dolloped, and very carefully pressed the little cookie "pies" together, then chatted and drank tea (and then wine) while we waited for the test cookie to come out. It's a lot more fun with help! We also ate a LOT of cookies. Ashley left with a bag full to share with her roommates, a thank you for sharing their grapes, and I was glad there were fewer of these addictive little morsels in my apartment!

Concord Grape and Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches (or Pies)

shortbread cookie dough (see recipe below)
Concord grape jelly (recipe below)
peanut butter mixture (below)

Make shortbread dough and jelly. This can be done the night before, and refrigerated. I'd recommend this, in fact, as breaking up the work makes it more manageable. Preheat your oven to 275F. Roll out dough about 3/16" thick, and  cut out circles (or squares, I guess, if you'd rather), placing on a silicone cookie sheet liner or ungreased baking sheet. Dip your finger or a brush in water and wet around the edge of the dough. Roll a ball of the peanut butter mixture and squash down in the middle. Dollop some jelly on top. VERY CAREFULLY ease another circle of dough on top and pinch firmly down around the outside. It might take a cookie or two to get the amounts right, so it doesn't ooze out when you put the top on; you can use the above photos as a guide for proportions. Bake for about 30 minutes. They should be tinged with gold around the outside.


Shortbread (from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, pg 898) directions paraphrased

1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cornstarch
pinch salt

Mix flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer on low till just combined. Still mixing, add the egg yolk, then the flour mixture, and mix until the dough just barely holds together. This should take a few minutes.

Wrap in plastic and smash into a disc. Chill at least 30m. See above recipe, or if just making shortbread, follow the below instructions:

Heat oven to 275F.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until firm but tender and not browned, about 30m. Cool on sheets before moving to a rack.


Peanut Butter Mixture

peanut butter
almond (or peanut) flour (I've found ground pistachios work well also)
confectioner's sugar
salt

Start out with about a half cup or so of peanut butter. I use the natural kind, and have to stir it all together. Add about 1/4 cup (starting out) of nut flour, a few T of the sugar, and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly. Test: you want to be able to pinch off a piece and roll it into a ball without it sticking. Taste: it should be salty, creamy, crunchy, and not too sweet. If it needs more body (too creamy still), add more nut flour, 1T or so at a time. Adding additional powdered sugar helps it stick together, but too much and it will be too sweet--remember that is is already going inside a cookie!


Fast Grape Jelly

at least 2 cups Concord grapes
sugar

Heat the grapes in a saucepan (they should not fill it more than 1/4; the fruit will expand in volume as it boils) over low heat until they start to release skins. Simmer on low heat 10-15m, to get all of that good flavor out. Press through a sieve or a food mill (I bet this would work best), squeezing out as much juice as possible. Return liquid to heat, and taste. Add sugar as necessary, remembering to keep it a bit tart as a contrast to the richness of the peanut butter and the cookie. Simmer another 10m or so, and then do a jelly test: take a spoon and put a few drops of the jelly on it. You can either put it in the fridge or leave it out a few minutes; either way, you want it to cool. When it has reached the proper concentration, the cooled result will have gelled onto the spoon, and will not be runny. I took this even further and really boiled it down, but I went too far--it was almost the consistency of "fruit snacks" when it cooled, and had to be warmed up again so we could work with it!

You could probably doctor up store-bought grape jelly by boiling it down a bit and adding some lemon for additional tartness if you didn't want to bother with making your own jelly, or wanted to make this out of season. If you try this, let me know how it works!

Stuffed Meatballs and Polenta

Dear Devon,

By nature, I am not a meatball eating person. Spaghetti in my house was always served sans meatballs: tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese. I never understood the allure of the meatball. To me, they were indigestible: Too dense and too chewy. Meatballs were something that sat in your stomach, like pancakes, weighing you down until you finally succumbed to the only thing you can do to alleviate your discomfort, sleep. So, I was a bit hesitant when I started out.

There are a number of challenges that need to be addressed when making the perfect meatball. How to avoid the dreaded cannonball in the stomach? Arteries, you need to respect them. How do I produce a meatball that is low in fat content, yet still succulent and rich in flavor? Frying them in a pan with oil seemed completely unappealing, for both the mess and again the arteries.

About a year ago, I perfected my recipe for pasta bolognese. The sauce was rich and supple, earthy with a bit of tang and a slight sweetness. The meat had an amazingly light texture, almost silken, yet still with a vibrant richness. I achieved this by mixing the meat before cooking with a paste made of breadcrumbs and milk, which I then incorporated into the ground meat. The bolognese recipe also calls for a finely diced mix of carrots, onions, and celery. This processed combo of veggies served as the base for the tomato sauce, giving it a hearty texture and bit of fragrance. From my experiments with the bolognese sauce, these two aspects impressed me most. I began wondering how else could I use these techniques.

In another whirl of inspiration, I decided to up the ante a bit, adding a bit more decadence. I had originally purchased a box of perlini mozzarella for a tomato and arugula salad. The sight of the uneaten mozzarella sitting in a tub of murky water was a bit unappetizing, so I decided to use them in my meatballs. Later, I filled the meatballs with soft

I cooked them on the stove in a cast iron skillet with lots of oil. But in the end, decided to use the oven instead. I like the oven method better because the clean up is easier. With the stovetop method, oil splattered everywhere. The meatballs had to be patted down because they were covered in grease, plus I had to stand there while they cooked. When using the oven, I placed a wire cooling rack, oven-proof, on a baking sheet lined with foil. Turned the oven up to 400 degrees, and placed each spherical meatball on the rack. The baking sheet collects the dripped fat and a wonderful dark, crunchy crust forms. Delicious. The same effect with a quarter of the mess!! That's my type of cooking!!

These meatballs are wonderful on their own, with a light cucumber yogurt sauce or mint jelly. For a new twist, I whipped up a quick tomato sauce. Throwing a few meatballs into the sauce for the last five minutes of cooking. I whipped up some quick no-fail polenta, poured on my sauce, and topped it with the lamb and goat cheese meatballs.


Lamb Meatballs with Goat Cheese
3/4 lb ground lamb
1/3 c breadcrumbs
2 tbsp cream
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 c grated pecorino cheese
1 tsp dried thyme
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 oz soft goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Comfortably nest a cooling rack on the making sheet. This works best if the sides of the baking sheet can fully enclose the cooling rack.

In a small bowl, soak the breadcrumbs in the cream. Be sure the breadcrumbs absorb all the cream to form a dense paste, about 10 minutes.

Drain the perlini mozzarella in a strainer. Set aside.

Using a food processor, combine celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Process until the mix is finely grated. Measure out 2/3 cup of the grated veggie mix into a large mixing bowl. Grate in pecorino cheese. Add in nutmeg, thyme, fennel seed, salt and pepper. Beat in the egg, thoroughly mixing the ingredients together. Add in the ground lamb and the breadcrumb paste. Thoroughly mix.

Using your hands, form the meat into spheres roughly the size of a ping pong ball. Flatten the ball into a disc and place a single ball of mozzarella in the center. Close the meat around the cheese. Place the finished meatball on the cooling rack. Continue forming about 20-24 meatballs.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until cooked through the center.


Rustic Tomato Sauce.
3 large ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup of the diced veggie mix (from above)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
salt and red pepper flakes

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Gently cook the diced veggie mix and garlic in the hot oil. When the veggies begin to exude their wonderful fragrance (5-7 minutes), add the tomato paste. Gently fry the tomato paste in the oil and stir vigorously to thoroughly coat the cooking veggies. Add in all the diced tomatoes. Liberally salt. Add in a pinch of red pepper flakes and sugar. Cook over medium flame covered, allowing the tomatoes to release their juices (10-15 minutes). Stir in water and red wine. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. For additional flavor, drop in a few meatballs and cover, cooking gently for 5 minutes longer.

Polenta
Mark Bittman's no fail recipe

1 cup milk
2 cups water
1 cup coarse cornmeal
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated cheese, pecorino or parmesan
generous pinch of salt
1/4 cup chopped dill (optional)

In a large pot, bring 1 cup milk and 2 cups water to a boil. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of cornmeal. Add a large pinch of salt. Turn the heat down. Allow the mixture to simmer and stir occasionally. Cook on a simmer for about 20 minutes. When the polenta gets nice and thick, add the grated cheese. Mix in dill.

Cinnamon Rasin Granola

Hi Devon,

Homemade granola, easy to make and tastier than store bought: why waste money on pre-packaged? Nothing jumpstarts your morning better than a big scoop of yogurt mixed with fruit and granola. I love granola but don't like many calorie-packed commercially boxed granolas. Unnecessary sugars and additives make eating a healthy alternative like granola more like eating a sausage and egg sandwich from the corner deli.

Making my own proved a much healthier and tastier solution. Controlling the ingredients is key to any recipe. Luckily, granola is flexible by definition, allowing for many substitutions and improvisations. I read through three recipes (the Joy of Cooking, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa fame) before finalizing my own formula. A comparison of the three proved that a recipe for granola is always a suggestion, rather than a specific technique. Add anything you like, toss with an oil / sugar-based mix, and toast in the oven until golden brown and fragrant.

Each of the three recipes varied slightly in their choice of ingredients and cooking instructions. Both the Joy of Cooking and Ina Garten called for the oats to be tossed in an oil and sugar-based mixture, while Bittman suggested cooking the granola on a baking sheet positioned over two burners of the stove. Proportions varied wildly from Bittman's 4 cups of oats to Garten's 6 cups. Each suggested an assortment of dried fruits, nuts, and spices, including: wheatberry, pecans, raisins, poppy seeds, and nutmeg. All three consider shredded coconut an essential component. I didn't use it- it's not in my pantry, so it's not in my granola.

I devised my own recipe / suggestion for granola. I opted for a simple base of old-fashioned rolled oats. I picked up some plump golden raisins and walnuts, not my first choice, but still adequate, at my local grocery store. The pantry was stocked with a thousand sunflower seeds, a remnant from a project a few months ago, and a box of raisins. At first, I was hesitant to use sunflower seeds, but upon tasting the final product, I loved it. They gave the granola a nutty and almost buttery flavor, something that was needed to balance the sweetness of the raisins.

For my first attempt, I did not want to be too crazy with my flavors. Bittman suggested adding nutmeg or cinnamon, to infuse the granola with warm and spicy notes. I used both spices and enhanced the flavor with maple syrup, omitting the recommended honey. I love honey, but this time, I wanted something that would tie into the dark tones of the cinnamon and nutmeg. Substitutions are fine. You don't have to run out to the store before making this. Use what you have and make thoughtful choices.

Since each author recommended a different baking time and temperature, I chose a moderate temperature of 300 degrees F and opted to check my granola every 10 minutes, giving it the requisite stir. Spread the mixture out evenly over the large pan to encourage even cooking. The wonderful perfume of roasting nuts and spices filled the kitchen. The texture and crunchiness determined when to remove the pan. Be careful when tasting, the granola is burning hot. Allow the granola to come to room temperature before mixing in an assortment of dried fruit. If you add the dried fruit too soon, it will get sticky and adhere to the hot pan and lose its shape.

The recipe makes an insane amount, roughly 8 cups. Store in a plastic container and it will keep indefinitely.


Cinnamon Raisin Granola

4 cups rolled old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 pinch salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup black raisins

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, chopped nuts, sunflower seeds, salt, and spices. Whisk together vegetable oil and maple syrup until well-blended. Pour the oil / syrup mixture onto the dry ingredients. Toss with a flexible spatula until the oats, nuts, and seeds are evenly coated. Empty the mix onto a large baking sheet (9 x 13 inch). Bake in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes, stirring with a spatula every 10 minutes, until the granola is golden brown and fragrant.

Allow granola to cool on the pan on a wire rack. Toss in the raisins. Mix to combine.

Serve with yogurt and fresh fruit or milk.

Store in a plastic container.