Que Syrah Syrah

It was only a matter of time before I fell in love with wine. Allow me to introduce you to wine jelly. My new go-to for big kid party contributions in my new big kid life. At least, that's how I look at it. In contrast to most of my other recipes, this is less inspired by another dish and really more of a copy. Like my sausage balls, however, I did not have the full recipe (but this time because America's Test Kitchen wants my money), so I had to figure it out. Pretty sure I did.

Ingredients:
One bottle of red wine, falling anywhere between crappy and vintage.
3 1/4 granulated sugar
Pectin powder (I think around 2 T, but sprinkle it in until a film forms between stirs)
3 T lemon juice
1 pat of butter

Pour about 1 cup of your wine into a small saucepan and reduce it (at a simmer/low boil) for 15-20 minutes. In a separate, larger pot, pour the rest of the wine and put it on medium-high heat. It needs to be warm enough to dissolve the sugar. Which is added next. Slowly add the sugar in increments and stir to make sure it is dissolving. After you've added all the sugar, pour in your lemon juice. Bring the wine mixture to a low boil and sprinkle in the pectin. The pectin will not dissolve (in fact it will form waxy clumps) unless the wine is boiling. Once it is dissolved, however, you can turn the eye down and add your pat of butter. This is to prevent a foamy layer from forming on the surface of the wine. If there is still foam build up, add a little more butter. There certainly isn't ever such a thing as too much butter. After you have reduced the heat, a film should form on the surface of the liquid, and there might even be a gel-like build up on the sides of the pot. Finally, stir in the reduced wine that has been simmering in the small saucepan. Remove the mixture from heat, and immediately pour into the container you plan to store your jelly in. Allow the jelly to refrigerate for 24 hours. Depending on the amount of pectin your "film" required, it could take only a few hours, and strangely enough warm jelly is kind of delicious.

Serving suggestion: 

Serve with crackers (I like Rosemary & Olive Oil Triscuits or these awesome Raisin Rosemary Crisps I found at Trader Joes) and a stinky cheese. If you like bleu cheese, try that--or a creamy gorgonzola. I'm not a huge fan of bleus though, so I went with a goat cheese brie. I love goat cheese, and I think brie goes really well with wine, and I was lucky enough to find a combo cheese at Trader Joes. Delish. You probably won't even need dinner.

Until your time again finds mine,

Julia