Writing for the Newsletter

Today Lindsay and I spent all day in the office. My morning was filled with filing. Lots and lots of filing. I think every job I have had has required some sort of filing. I do not think there is any way for me to avoid it since I am a business major because it is important to have hard copies in case a problem arises.

Then this afternoon, I got to help with the newsletter. Included in every newsletter is a recipe that includes one of Jessup Cellars wines that was sent to the wine club members. Dani gave me the task to find a recipe that included a red wine. I found a recipe called Petite Sirah Short Ribs, but changed it a little to make it Zinfandel Short Ribs. After typing up the changes for the recipe, I added the Jessup Cellars image. I look forward to seeing it in the upcoming newsletter!

Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds of beef short ribs                             

6 ounce can of homemade tomato paste           

Kosher salt                                                       
2 cups Jessup Cellars 2009 Zinfandel                                   

3 Tablespoons olive oil                                                                                      

1 cup onion (coarsely chopped)                                                                       

1 stalk celery (coarsely chopped)                                                                       

1 large carrot (coarsely chopped)                                                                       

3 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 cup water
5 sprigs fresh thyme 
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf

Preparation:

To start, poor yourself a glass of Jessup Cellars 2009 Zinfandel because there is nothing like a nice glass of wine to begin cooking-up an entre. Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Generously salt all sides of the short ribs to add a little flavor. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large dutch oven and cook the short ribs until they are brown on all sides. Then remove the short ribs, put them into a pan and cover to keep warm.

Combine onion, celery, carrot and garlic into a food processor and puree until the mixture resembles a chunky paste. Poor the puree into the dutch oven and brown on high heat, stirring often, until it turns very dark. This will take about 8-10 minutes. Then add your homemade tomato paste and brown on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the Zinfandel and then scrape the crusty bits from the bottom of the pan and reduce by half. You can lower the heat if it starts to burn.

Place the short ribs back into the dutch oven and add enough water so it just covers the meat. The add thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Cover and cook in the oven for 3 hours. Flip meat after 1 hour and 30 minutes of cooking. To allow the sauce to reduce, uncover after 2 hours and 40 minutes. Poor yourself another glass of Zinfandel and enjoy!

Adapted from http://www.tayloreason.com

If you try the recipe you will have to let me know how it tastes! 

On another note, we had our first cloudy day yesterday and it has been raining here all afternoon. This morning I could even see my breath! Hopefully it will warm back up for my last few days in the Napa Valley. 

Cheers!