Last year I made a Grape Pie when we canned Grape Juice, and the kids have been pining for it ever since. It is now officially a fall tradition for the family, that Dad makes a Grape Pie when the juice is made.Its alot of work, but WELL worth it!
First, simply 'pop' the skins off each grape. Its easy to do by pinching them, but just takes a long time. Save the skins!
Next, bring the 'guts' to a boil for 2 minutes.This will make straining out the seeds easy and helps the sugar and tapioca to mix in well.
After the boil, strain out the seeds and 'stuff' from the guts.
Now, mix the skins back into the gut gew. It smells AWESOME!You might consider blending up the skins first - to chop them into very small, fine pieces. I like the larger, original skin size, but it is a good option to consider.
Now we mix in the sugar, Tapioca (or flour will do too...), and Lemon Juice. Mix it all in well, and let it setup. I like to add extra Tapioca to thicken it up nicely.Oh yeah - the recipe! Here is what you'll need for a single pie:
4.5 Cups of Grapes
2 Cups of Sugar (1 Cup is enough for us usually...)
2 tsp of Lemon Juice
2 tbsp of Tapioca (I usually double this, at least...)
Another tip - leave the pie crust to the women! My wife has a fantastic pie crust... so good in fact that I CAN'T share it on the web... !I will show you pictures of it, though!
Some other tips - 1 or 1.5 Cups of sugar is MORE THAN ENOUGH for this pie... even though the original recipe called for 2 cups. These grapes are so sweet - 1 Cup was enough and still may set your teeth on edge!Another tip - add a small layer of CREAM CHEESE to the pie crust before putting the filling in - it is AWESOME!!!
Now, bake until brown.Are you hungry yet? Well, here's a piece for you! Quick - the kids are coming!
Hurry! Oh no... too late. The kids have come and gone, and now you'll have to wait until next year!
You have to be quick around here!
