If Ethel Mertz is the cheese in my anecdote: dry, reliable, comfortable. Then these roasted grapes are all Lucy Ricardo: fun, unexpected, engaging.
It may sound silly, but I've made these roasted grapes on many occasions and they always make a lasting impression. This appetizer gets requested and referred to more than any other I make and I want to encourage you to give this simple and delicious appetizer a try.
Preheat your oven to 425-450 degrees (you decide how your oven responds). Place non-stick foil on a cookie sheet.
Wash and lightly dry your fresh, seedless grapes. Leave just a small artistic cluster still on the vine, and pluck the rest of them from the stem and scatter on the foil. You'll want the ones on the vine for artistic effect, but know that if you roast them on the vine, most of the flesh clings when you pull it off to eat. That's why we're plucking most from the vine before roasting.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I always use a specialty vinegar by Beekman 1802: Fig & Elderberry Blaak Drizzle.
Keeping an eye on them, roast the grapes for 10-20-30 minutes until they split, sizzle, char and collapse. Sometimes it works faster than others, probably based on the sugar content.
Once they have cooled a bit, arrange them on a platter (with toothpicks nearby) with your favorite cheese and cracker bites. We're heading into party season - Enjoy!
Want to know the #1 thing I look for at a farm stand or farmer's market? Honeycomb. A beautiful block of "made by the bees" honeycomb. A marvel of nature that I don't think gets the admiration it deserves. The structure is beautiful, the contents delicious and it is made by instinct - fascinating.
I bought one of these clear boxes of honeycomb (above) at the Shadowland Seed booth within the Sara Hardy Farmer's Market in Traverse City. It was of the highest quality and I served it several times with cheeses and roasted grapes on an appetizer tray.
Roasted grapes, you say? Yes, a new favorite of mine to keep appetizer hour interesting. This particular night, I roasted seedless red grapes on the vine. Placed a piece of nonstick aluminum foil on a rimmed cookie sheet, wash and then drape the grape clusters onto the tray, drizzled them with a touch of olive oil and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and roast the grapes at 450 degrees for approx 8-10 min - watching closely.
The grapes were delicious - very lush and sweet; they took on the flavor of a roasted apple, believe it or not. I did find that "plucking" the roasted grape from the stem often resulted in loosing the inside of the grape - the skin came off but the flesh clung.
Now I remove most of the grapes from the vine and roast them scattered on a cookie sheet, with just one small clump left on the vine for effect. That makes the grapes much easier to pick up and eat.
The next time you are hosting a party, try roasting grapes! Thanksgiving, perhaps?
