My in-laws have grape vines in their backyard from which they make the most wonderfully rich sweet and tangy concord grape juice. As a treat, my dad-in-law loves to serve their wonderful grape juice poured over vanilla ice cream that has been scooped into a mug. We call them "purple cows", nobody ever turns one down. Since moving away from family my husband and I have, on occasion, wished for some of that wonderful grape juice poured over ice cream.
Today we had some friends over for dinner and I decided to try this highly rated sherbet provided by allrecipes.com and Tina Sims. Oh my goodness! One bite of this wonderful sherbet takes me back to my in-laws living room. I can hear my father-in-law saying, with the anticipation of the upcoming exclaimations of joy that will flow forth in his voice, "Would anyone like a purple cow?". Until then...happy eating for me one lovely purple cow spoonful at a time.
ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups white sugar
4 cups grape juice
3 lemons, juiced
whole milk
directions
1.In a gallon ice cream freezer container, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, cream, white sugar, grape juice, and lemon juice. Pour in enough whole milk to fill the container to the fill line.
2.Follow the manufacturer's instructions to freeze the ice cream.
Makes 32 servings
Sounds delicious!! The purple cows are what I'm talking about. How do they make the grape juice? I have red grapes of some unknown variety growing over one end of my house. They make great jelly but I would love to try this.
ReplyDeleteTo answer “barkie's” question:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I personally have never made grape juice. I just enjoy the fruits of my relatives labor! I had to ask my mother-in-law how she does it. I decided to answer your question using her words-with a few of my own added. I also searched for a "steamer juicer" and found one on Amazon.com in like 2 seconds. So they are out there and easy to find. Hope this helps. Let me know how this turns out for you!
First you pick, wash and remove any unripe or bad fruit, leaves etc. You don't need to remove the grapes from the stems. We bought a steamer/juicer [to make the grape juice]. The steamer/juicer has three parts: a bottom pan that holds boiling water, the steam travels up to the top pan that holds the fruit. Follow the instructions (that come with your steamer) for steaming; the grapes will split and the juice goes to the holding pan. There is also a little hose connected to the holding pan that allows you to easily drain the grape juice into canning jars.
We wash our bottles, rings, and tongs in the dishwasher. When they are hot, when we drain the juice into quart jars [*** the grape juice and containers are very hot so be careful as you drain the boiling juice-use an oven mitt or hot pad to hold the jar]. The lids have been boiled at least 5 min in a sauce pan; use tongs to remove lids from sauce pan, be sure the bottle rim is clean [I use a wet paper towel.], put on lid and ring and process 15 min.(see www.freshpreserving.com for more information about canning, preserving and processing). Afterward I put my jars upside down on the counter until completely cooled and sealed.