Joe 5, Julia 0

This recipe is in the dessert section of my Trader Joe's cookbook (go here to learn more about this cookbook and my project).  Honestly, I really think it's a waste to make a dessert using Trader Joe ingredients because the store has so many wonderful pre-made desserts in the freezer and bakery sections.  But this one is easy (there's that buzzword again) and can be done using ingredients from anywhere.

Berry-Zin Sauce

1 bottle of drinkable but not expensive Zinfandel

1 16-oz. bag frozen Berry Medley (or a bag of frozen raspberries OR use a mix of fresh berries since they're in season and it seems ridiculous to use frozen berries in the middle of June)

1 cup of sugar

Several grinds of black pepper

Ice cream or pound cake to eat with your yummy sauce :)

Place all ingredients in a saute pan (not a saucepan - you want more surface area for more efficient reduction) and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes (it took longer for me), until mixture is reduced to two cups.  Strain through a sieve to remove seeds (the sauce is strained in the picture above but next time I'm going to skip this part because I like having the fruit "bits" in the sauce).  Store the extra sauce in your frig for about a week (if it lasts that long!)

Other notes:  We ate our vanilla ice cream and cinammon graham crackers with the Berry-Zin Sauce while it was still warm the night I made it.  A couple nights later, we had it cold and I think I prefer it that way.  Also, the flavors had meshed together after 48 hours and I liked the taste a lot.  

This is a fun recipe to play around with so now it's your turn :)