Muscadines!

The smell and taste of muscadines captures the true essence of fall.   The smell of them fallen on the ground and fermenting brings joy to both me and the honey bees.  This year we went to a vineyard outside of the city and picked muscadines, where we were accompanied by many of the said bees.  They reminded me of this, although it happens at a different time of year, different side of the country, and different winged creature it's still the same joyous outcome:

On a certain day in the shouting springtime great clouds of orangy Monarch butterflies, like twinkling aery fields of flowers, sail high in the air on a majestic pilgrimage across Monerey Bay and land in the outskirts of Pacific Grove in the pine woods.  The butterflies know exactly where they are going.  In the millions they land on several pine trees- always the same trees.  There they suck the thick resinous juice which oozes from the twigs, and they get cockeyed.  The first comers suck their fill and then fall drunken to the ground, where they lie on a golden carpet, waving their inebriate legs in the air and giving off butterfly shouts of celebration, while their places on the twigs are taken by new, thirsty millions.  

John Steinbeck, Sweet Thursday

thanks Luke

Crawl under the drooping vines and there you'll share a world of rich ripe red, pink, or golden fruits in various stages of ripeness with the bees, who themselves are in various stages of drunkenness, all shouting the same  joyous yells of celebration.

yeah, thanks Luke

I came home and made a few things to remember that by.

Muscadine Jam

My grandmother is the only one who usually makes this, and now I know why.  It is time consuming and you must be patient.  The result is better than anything you could hope for though, so it's completely worth it.  I took this recipe directly from Canning For a New Generation, with the exception that it was made with Concords in the book.  I would prefer muscadines anyway.

• 4 pounds muscadines red, pink, and/or golden (although it helps to have a fair amount of red, to give the jam a nice rich color), stemmed and rinsed
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 T fresh lemon juice

Sterilize 4 half-pint jars in boiling water and keep them hot in the canning pot while you proceed..

Squeeze the grapes one-by-one from their hulls.  It helps to have help, preferably someone who likes the smell of muscadines as much as you do.  Put the hulls in a bowl or saucepan and the pulp in another large saucepan.  Bring the pulp to a boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the seeds separate from the pulp.  Pour it all into a sieve held over a large saucepan, or ladle batches in the sieve.  Press as much pulp as you can through the sieve with a rubber spatula; discard the seeds.  Add the sugar and about 1/2 of the hulls.  Stir in to melt the sugar and add more hulls to make it nice and thick.  The jam will thicken slightly as it cooks, but it will be more of a preserve, not super thick or gelatinous like jelly.  Some like more skins than others- I added a little over 3/4 of the hulls back and saved the rest for juice.  

Bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until a small dab of the jam spooned onto a chilled plate and then returned to the freezer for a moment becomes somewhat firm, about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir gently for a few seconds to distribute the hulls in the liquid.

Sterilize the jar lids by pouring boiling water over them, or dunking them in a pot of boiling water for a minute. Be careful not to boil the lids, as that might break down the seals.  Ladle the hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head-space and process in a boiling-water bath for about 5 minutes.

Store unsealed jars in the fridge and sealed ones amongst your other jars of relishes, pickles, and jams in a cool dark place.

Muscadine Juice

As Liana Krissoff says in Canning for a New Generation:

To make grape juice (for quaffing rather than for jelly), crush the grapes, simmer them (with some whole spices or herb springs (not needed for muscadines I say!), strain, let sit overnight, then strain again.  Return the juice to the pan and add water to dilute it (pure grape juice can be a little intense), add sugar if it needs it (it probably won't), and a bit more lemon juice if desired.  Bring to a boil and then ladle into sterilized pint of quart jars, leaving 1/2 inch head-space, put the lids and rings on, and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

I added neither water nor sugar to mine and left it as a concentrate, as I didn't know how I would like to use it later.

Onigiri

The first and most important step for this recipe, I found, is to have a nice set of small bowls.  Not small like small soup bowls, but small like salt bowls.  Like the ones made by The One and Only Anderson Bailey (at least the one and only who makes gorgeous salt bowls).  These bowls have many uses, big and small, and will take you far in life, I promise.

Onigiri are easier than they look, but next time I am going to flavor the rice up more.  The recipe I used was from Canning For a New Generation by Liana Krissoff and it didn't call for anything in the rice.  I added a little salt and quite a bit of rice vinegar and bit of honey, but it was still a bit bland for my taste.  Next time I think I'll make some real sushi vinegar by soaking some kombu in the rice vinegar, and that might help give the rice some of the ever-desired umami.

• 2 cups sushi rice
• Stuffins such as fermented or pickled veggies.  I used a mixture of kimchee and  fried bacon, all chopped up and crumbly.  Use whatever you want to fill- just make sure it is strong and salty.
• Sushi Vinegar (or rice vinegar mixed with a little sugar and some kind of salt- you can use soy sauce or dulce flakes if you don't mind the rice not being pristine)
• Nori

Rinse the rice well, until the water runs clear.  This helps it from becoming super gunky.  Put it in a medium saucepan with 2 1/4 cup of water.  Lisa says to let it soak for 30 minutes, but I just went ahead and cooked mine without soaking.  Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a small simmer for about 10 minutes, or til the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.  Sushi rice is a little trickier than long-grain rice, and a little fickle as well.  It is important to not peak while it's cooking, maybe just look once to make sure that water is still simmering.  And don't stir it, as it will get gluey.  When it is done remove it from the stove, take off the lid, and put a clean, wet dishtowel on top.  Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

When the rice has cooled some, scoop it into a bowl, break it up with a wooden paddle, and pour about 1/4 a cup of the vinegar over it.  Fold the vinegar gently but thoroughly into the rice, taste it, and add more vinegar until it tastes good.  The filling for the onigiri should be rich and salty so don't give the rice too much flavor, as you want a nice contrast.  Again cover the rice with a wet towel and keep it there as you work out of the bowl.

Fill a bowl with warm water and set it aside to dip your fingers into.  This is the secret to keep sticky rice from sticking to your hands.  Line a very small bowl or teacup (or several) with a small piece of plastic wrap.  I have never bought plastic wrap before in my life (seriously!) until I made these.  It works very nicely though,  and now I have some on hand for next time.   Wet your fingers and pluck about a 1/4 a cup of rice from the bowl.  Roughly shape it into a ball, make a dent in the center, and spoon a teaspoon of the filling inside.  Pull the plastic wrap over the rice ball and twist to close.  As you do this the rice will wrap itself around the filling. Don't worry if some filling oozes out.  You will cover the bottom with nori anyway. Set aside.

Repeat until the rice is gone and you have a whole lot of nice tidy rice balls.  You may unwrap and eat them immediately  or put them still wrapped in the fridge for later.   To serve, tear a small squarish rectangle from a sheet of nori, take the plastic off the onigiri, and press the nori square around the bottom.  Enjoy by itself, or serve with a dipping sauce if desired.