The vine clambered over the back of the house for a decade or more, the bunches of fragola grapes hanging down each autumn, an annual feast for the blackbirds. No matter how much of an eagle eye I kept on the ripening fruit, the birds always got there first. The pruning, training, netting and sweeping up of the fallen leaves was all in vain.
The grapevine is now replaced by a wisteria and the blackbirds must look elsewhere for their breakfast, but I miss the few fruits I managed to wrangle from them. I now buy my grapes instead: sweet golden muscats, dusty blue fragola – the variety that tastes like a cross between muscat and wild strawberries – and bunches of tiny fruit that look like beads that I tear from their vine every time I open the fridge. Once these beauties are gone, I will not look at another until the following autumn.
Roasting pork on a Sunday afternoon, I sometimes toss a handful of black grapes into the pan juices while the meat is resting. The skins send shots of deepest purple into the fat and meat juices, adding a rich, sweet, vinous note. I cook others until they bleed dark juice then spoon them over a cake of polenta and almonds. Muscats can also add welcome sweetness to a red cabbage and fennel salad.
The French classic Véronique garnish uses skinned acidic green grapes, but I think chicken deserves a sweeter variety, such as the black grapes around now.
Chicken with grapes, cider and cream
There is a mellow sweetness to this dish that feels entirely in step with the time of year. The sweetest of muscat or, better still, fragola grapes are perfect if you can find them. I don’t bother to deseed them (an almost impossible task), but do as you wish. The browning of the chicken is crucial here, partly for the savour it brings but just as importantly for the sticky goo that develops on the pan that will form the heart and soul of the cream sauce. Serves 4
small potatoes 450g
groundnut or olive oil 3 tbsp
chicken thighs 8
cider 200ml
bay leaves 3
grapes 200g
cream 150ml
capers 2 tsp
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.
Wash the potatoes and halve each one. Warm the oil in a large, shallow pan over a moderate heat, then add the potatoes, cut side down. Let them cook for 10 minutes until golden, turning as necessary. Remove them to a plate and set aside.
Season the thighs with salt and pepper, then lightly brown them all over in the pan, adding more oil if needed. Pour in the cider and let it bubble for a minute, then return the potatoes to the pan. Tuck in the bay leaves then bake for 35 minutes.
Remove the grapes from their vine and scatter them among the chicken pieces and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, pour in the cream and place over a moderate heat. Let the cream and chicken juices bubble for a couple of minutes, then add the capers and a final seasoning of ground pepper.
Serve, spooning the juices over the chicken and grapes as you go.
Honey and thyme cake with roast grapes
A seasonal variation of the ever popular polenta cake, this time with a thyme- and honey-scented syrup. The cake is saturated a second time, with the syrup from roast grapes, that sends purple ripples running through its crumb. Suitable as a dessert or tea-time cake, served with a pot of thick crème fraîche. Serves 8-10
butter 220g
caster sugar 220g
skinned almonds 50g
ground almonds 150g
fine polenta 220g
baking powder 1 tsp
eggs 3, large
For the syrup:
lemon juice 150ml (about 2 lemons)
honey 125ml
thyme sprigs 8
dry marsala 3 tbsp
For the grapes:
sweet black grapes 450g
caster sugar 1 tbsp
brandy (or marsala or sweet sherry) 3 tbsp
olive oil 1 tbsp
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Line a 20cm cake tin with baking parchment.
Dice the butter and put in a food mixer bowl with the caster sugar. Beat until pale and fluffy – allow 5-8 minutes for this.
Finely chop the skinned almonds. It takes seconds in a food processor. Mix them with the ground almonds, then add to the butter and sugar. Mix together the polenta and baking powder, then add to the mixture and cream thoroughly.
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly. Then, with the paddle still turning, introduce them into the mixture. Transfer to the lined cake tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 35 minutes, then lower the heat to 160C/gas mark 3 and bake for a further 25-30 minutes until the cake is risen and nicely browned.
Make the syrup: put the lemon juice and honey into a small pan, add the thyme and marsala and bring to the boil. When the honey has dissolved, remove from the heat, cover and set aside to infuse.
Remove the cake from the oven and pierce it all over with a knitting needle or skewer. Spoon the honey and lemon syrup over the cake and leave to cool.
Place the grapes in a nonstick roasting tin. Put the sugar, brandy and olive oil into a bowl and mix. Pour the dressing over the grapes and toss them gently together. Roast for 45-50 minutes at 200C/gas mark 6 until the grapes have collapsed and formed a deep purple liquor in the roasting tin.
Serve with slices of the honey cake and any juices from the tin.
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