Beyond jam and wine, I’m hard-pressed for recipes starring grapes. Grapes, as far as I’m concerned, are nearly perfect in their natural,unadorned state, fresh off the vine.
Heart-healthy and handy, grapes make the best of snacks. They add a whole bunch of elegance to to a plate of cheese or a tray of pastries. What else to do with them, but munch and enjoy.
But now that it’s “crushing season” for wine making - I find a medley of Michigan grapes available in abundance in the stores, all calling for a little culinary imagination.
Close to jam, but not nearly as work-intensive, there’s compote. The easiest of recipes and a good way to highlight apples now in season, cranberries now stockpiled for the holidays ahead...and the last of the summer berries.
So here you have it: an apple-cranberry-grape-and-a-handful-of-raspberry compote. Think of it as a fruit pie without the pastry, a tasty topping over pancakes and waffles or a complement to oatmeal in the morning. —Vivian Henoch
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