Preserving the harvest: Muscadine jam

Muscadines. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Recognize these plump grapes? They're Muscadines, a grape native to the Southeast that has been cultivated for more than 400 years. They appear briefly in Southern supermarkets from late August to September, and even into October, usually alongside their green-skinned cousins, the Scuppernong. These native grapes are distinguished by thick skins and sweet juice, that I think has a slightly musky or earthy fragrance, others may disagree. It took me awhile to love muscadines, but I do, especially now that I cook with them.

Yesterday, I shared a recipe for muscadine sorbet, inspired by Chef Brian Jones of Atlanta's Ritz-Carlton (downtown). Today, I'm so excited to share Chef Brian's recipe for a divine muscadine jam, an ideal way to preserve the brief muscadine harvest.

Chef Brian Jones of the Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta (downtown). By Jonathan Orozco.

Chef Jones is a Southerner who uses Southern ingredients in new and fresh ways. He serves muscadine grapes as a palate cleansing sorbet at Atlanta Grill at the Ritz-Carlton downtown, and he turns them into Muscadine jam flavored with vanilla and port wine. He graciously shared the jam recipe with A Cook and Her Books.

Muscadine Jam or Jelly

Provided by Chef Brian Jones, Atlanta Grill, The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta (Downtown)

Yield: approximately 1 gallon

This recipe may be reduced proportionately, but it’s as much work to do three gallons as it is to do two pints. Chef Jones advises that the smaller muscadines are more flavorful than the larger ones.

4 pounds (12 cups) muscadines, whole and washed

1 pound sugar

½ cinnamon stick

1 vanilla bean, split

Big pinch ground nutmeg

Big pinch salt

2 cups Port wine

4 cups water

1 pouch, Sure-Jell dry pectin or Certo liquid pectin

1. Prepare and sanitize 8 pint jars (or 4 quart jars or 16, 8 oz jars, etc, etc) with lids according to the manufacturers’ instructions.

2. Place muscadines, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, salt, port and water into a large sauce pan and place on a medium-high flame.

3. Once mixture begins to boil, stir frequently to break up muscadines and skim (remove) foam from top of hot mixture as it appears.

4. Cook on a low simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Taste the mixture. If it tastes right, stir in the pectin. If it needs tart or sweetness, adjust the flavor, add the pectin and let the jam simmer for another five to 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

6. For jam, pour mixture into a china cap (a coarse conical strainer, in which the holes are smaller than the seeds) or a fine mesh strainer. Proceed to push the mixture through the strainer until the majority of the pulp and juice rests in the container below.

7. For jelly, pour mixture into a jelly bag or a “chinois” (fine mesh conical strainer) lined with cheese cloth. Allowing the juice, only, to fall into the container below.

8. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for canning the jam or jelly.

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer,

with the exception of the photo of Chef Brian and the recipe, both provided by Ritz-Carlton Atlanta.

Wild grapes of autumn

Muscadine sorbet. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The muscadine season in Georgia lasts just a couple of months in autumn, but like it is with the sweetest watermelons of June or the juiciest heirloom tomatoes of August, it’s worth the wait. Paulk Family Vineyards in Wray, in middle Georgia, is the country’s largest grower of muscadines, a wild but cultivated grape. Muscadines are considered the "superfruit of the South" - the University of Georgia studied the grapes and determined that they have high levels of ellagic acid, which inhibits the growth of abnormal cells, and very high total antioxidants, according to Paulk's website.

Muscadine grapes. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 If you’ve never tasted a muscadine, be prepared for a thick skin and a bright, sweet burst of juicy grape flesh. In the store, look for clean, unblemished grapes in the quart package. (And I'm sure I'm not the only shopper who does this - checking the package bottom to ensure berries and grapes are fresh - that's where the spoilage first appears.) With muscadines, look for smaller grapes - the flavor will be more concentrated.

Ritz-Carlton Atlanta Chef Brian Jones serves muscadines in a palate-cleansing sorbet at the Atlanta Grill. Chef Jones is a Southerner with an affection for our native foodways, including muscadine grapes. He uses them in house-made jams and jellies (more on this tomorrow!), crushed and infused in vodka, and in a syrup for waffles and pancakes.

Inspired by Chef Brian, I replicated the muscadine sorbet. With an ice cream maker, sorbets are very simple to make – just crushed fruit and simple syrup, strained and frozen. I have a Krups LaGlaciere that’s about 10 years old – the most difficult part is remembering to put the canister in the freezer overnight before making the sorbet.

Muscadine Sorbet

I made this at home using vanilla sugar (simply a split vanilla bean placed in a jar of granulated sugar) for extra oomph, but plain granulated sugar works just the same. The recipe can also be frozen in popsicle molds, perfect for children, because my kids loved this!

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

1 quart muscadines, washed and dried

Ice cream maker

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water and sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved.  Let cool to room temperature.

2. Place clean grapes in a food processor, pulse to a coarse grind. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and transfer pulp to strainer. With the back of a spatula, press juice from the pulp. Be patient and gentle; this step takes time to get all the juice out of the pulp. Discard solids.

3. Combine juice and simple syrup. Place in refrigerator to chill, then freeze according to ice cream maker's instructions.

Stay tuned for Chef Brian's muscadine jam recipe tomorrow!

Inspired by Chef Brian Jones' muscadine sorbet at the Atlanta Grill, Ritz-Carlton downtown.

Text and images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer. 

Muscadine jam recipe provided by Brian Jones of Ritz-Carlton Atlanta.