So, I made the concord grape pie on Friday!
I got the grapes from the greenmarket (they were quite pricey...$6 a box, and I needed two..so I spent $12 on grapes, but "when in Rome", eh?) and concord grapes really aren't useful for anything other than jam making or pie because they have thick skins and seeds and a difficult to chew pulp, so they really must be cooked or juiced or something.
Anyways, I used a recipe from marthastewart.com (http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/concord-grape-pie?) and their recipe for pate brisee (what I always use for pie crusts). It was a big undertaking; I had to peel the grapes (not that difficult, just give the grapes a squeeze and they pop right out, but doing it to 8 cups of grapes can take a while, so I watched Pushing Daisies, the show I always watch when I feel like pie making) then cook and cool for two hours then push through a sieve. But, the resulting color was beautifully purple and I got three cups of fresh grape juice from peeling the grapes, which tasted fantastic.
I baked the pie and let it cool overnight and then I bought some cinnamon ice cream (PJ Madison's) to serve with it! The ice cream is quite necessary, in my opinion, otherwise the grapeyness can be a bit jarring and the cinnamon is quite complimentary. It should be noted, however, that this pie was verrryyyy soupy (maybe it needed more corn starch, but I didn't want it to be starchy). You need to fish out your slices with a spoon. I'm just thinking of inviting some people over and throwing the ice cream on top and eating it out of the pie plate. I'm chilling the pie in the fridge right now to see if it solidifies any, but in any case, it is a fabulous pie and should be made if you happen to have concord grapes available!
p.s. blast! My bad, I strained out the skins and seeds rather than just the seeds... that's probably why it was so soupy and unwieldy...ah well
