Sausage & Balsamic Grapes

Grapes are part of at least one family favorite dinner recipe (is that Chicken Pesto up here somewhere).  So I thought this one from ATK was worth a try:

Recipe

sweet Italian sausage (~1 1/2 lbs, or really as much as you want) - actual whole sausages!

1 lb seedless red grapes, halved

1 onion, sliced thin

1/4 c water

1/4 c white wine (dry)

1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp fresh mint, chopped

vegetable oil, salt & pepper

Heat a tbsp or so of oil in a skillet over medium, then brown the sausages on 2 sides.  Drain some oil/fat (optional!) and add the onion and grapes around the sausage, and add the water and cover.  Cook the sausages (about 10 minutes), turning halfway through.  Remove the sausages, and heat things up, adding some salt & pepper.  Brown the onions / soften the grapes (a few minutes), then add the white wine and oregano.  Scrape up brown bits while reducing by about half.  Stir in vinegar and serve over your sausage.

Notes

I messed up the first try at this by getting bulk sausage - luckily plenty of ways to use that up too (i.e. an improvised grape Korvgryta).  The official recommendation is to serve with salad or polenta, but some mashed potatoes worked very nicely - soaked up some of the sweetness.  Overall a kind of classier, sweeter version of the sausage & peppers...

Concord Grape & Thyme Bars

I emerged from a mountain retreat bearing its bounteous fruits: a pitcher of cool apple cider (too simple a concept to be included here?) and a heaping bowl of concord grapes (no turkeys - this time...).  What to do with the grapes?  It took a little more research than usual, but as always, the internet came through with an intriguing recipe.

Recipe

1 lb concord grapes, stemmed

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

2 c sugar

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

3 c all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

16 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" pieces

Squeeze the grapes to separate skins from pulp.  Process the skins until roughly chopped.  Boil the pulp in a saucepan, then simmer until they lose their shape.  Pour the pulp through a sieve, pushing through as much as you can minus the seeds.

Combine the pulp, skins, lemon juice, and 1 cup sugar in the saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then simmer about 30 minutes.  Add the thyme and simmer until reduced and jam-like.

Combine the flour, baking powder, 1 c sugar, and salt; add the egg and butter and get into a crumbly dough.  Press 2/3 into the bottom of a baking dish (13x9 or similar), spread the jam over, and crumble the rest of the dough on top.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.

Notes

The grape preparation sounds elaborate, but it does seem to make sense (as we discovered by trying to cut corners).  So stick to that.  Otherwise, it's straightforward baking, with all the butter and sugar that apparently entails.  Great stuff, good use of our concords!