Jenny's Irish Pork Chops with a Burrell School Zinfandel/Syrah Blend

The original wine pairing was based on a Zinfandel from Vine Hill Winery. Unfortunately, this winery has ceased production and a wine from Burrell School has been substituted. 

From The Winning Certificate                                                                

     After the death of her adopted mother, Sylvia develops an insatiable desire to find her birth mother. She becomes a teenage gang member trapped in a life style of violence and hopelessness. Rick Podowski helps Sylvia through writing poetry and eventually Sylvia is able to leave the gang. She finds her birth mother and becomes an unwilling participant in a plot by her mother's two stepsons. 

From Chapter 19                                                                                
     Antonio, who had been released from the hospital that morning, was sitting at the kitchen table having dinner with Jenny. Even though there were no candles, Mexican love songs were playing on the stereo and the subdued light of dusk made for a romantic atmosphere. Sylvia was spending the night at her grandmother's house.

     Jenny had promised to make her famous Irish Apple Maple Pork Chops. When the chops were fried to a deep golden brown, she brought them to the table on a blue-rimmed oval platter. Three chops covered with apples and  a maple sauce that included Irish whiskey sat in the middle of the platter with a border of piped mashed potato mounds surrounding them. A basic green salad accompanied the meal.

     Antonio opened a bottle of Burrell School Zinfandel. He poured two glasses and they sat down to eat.

       "This is delicious," Antonio said as he finished a piece of the chop. "I love this sauce. It's tangy and not too overpowering. You're a great cook."

     "It's an easy dish to make," Jenny said. "All I did was to fry the chops and the sauce is a fourth of a cup of Irish whiskey, a half cup of chicken broth, one chopped apple, and a fourth a cup of maple syrup."

      "I'm really impressed," Antonio said. "I've never tasted such creamy mashed potatoes."

       Jenny smiled and took a sip of the wine. The Zinfandel was, she thought, perfect with this dish. It pleased her so much that Antonio had taken pains to complement her meal by purchasing such a fine wine.

Burrell School Vineyards & Winery                                                       
     In 1854, Lyman J. Burrell planted the first grapes in the Santa Cruz Mountains on the winery property and in the 1860's the family donated an acre of land to build a school. Little is know about the original school, which burned in a forest fire in 1889. In 1890 a new school was built that served as a K-8 school through 1954. Currently it serves as the residence of the owners.

   The building was abandoned, and the Moultons, Dave, a hardware engineer and his wife Anne, a teacher began to restore the schoolhouse in 1973.

     The winery, which occupies the old carriage house, was bonded in 1994. Initial plantings were to Chardonnay and Merlot, with Pinot Noir added in 2002. They also planted Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

     Barrel selection is tailored to each varietal. Long, slow aging from 12 to 18 months in French or American oak barrels produces a superior wine. Bottling follows, with an additional six to twelve months of aging before any wines are released.

     In the 2009 Santa Cruz Mountains Commercial Wines Competition Burrell School won silver medals for its Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.

Jenny's Irish Apple Maple Pork Chops With Vine Hill Zinfandel/Syrah Blend                                                                             

     Jenny and Erin both love the flavors of Ireland and this dish is one of their favorites. The Irish whiskey combined with the sweetness of the maple syrup and the apples makes for wonderful flavor. The fruity Zinfandel goes well with this dish.

Serves 4

4 - 6 ounces boneless pork loin chops

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup good Irish Whiskey or Bourbon

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 apple, washed, peeled, cored and chopped

1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook pork chops in a heavy skillet about 10 - 12 minutes on medium heat. Do not over cook the chops. Remove & keep warm. Add oil, garlic, and bourbon to the skillet. Cover and cook over high heat 1 minute. 

Add the chicken broth, maple syrup, apple, salt & pepper cooking until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. 

Stir in the thyme & cook 1 minute. Serve sauce over the chops.

Teresa's Hot Italian Sausages and Peppers with Travieso's Amaranta

From The Winning Certificate

     After the death of her adopted mother, Sylvia develops an insatiable desire to find her birth mother. She becomes a teenage gang member trapped in a life style of violence and hopelessness. Rick Podowski helps Sylvia through writing poetry and eventually Sylvia is able to leave the gang. She finds her birth mother and becomes an unwilling participant in a plot by her mother's two stepsons. 

     In the following scene, the school counselor is trying to convince Rick Podowski that he needs to help Sylvia.

     The Vino Bello was a local wine shop, the walls of which were covered with bins of the best wines produced in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rick found Cookie sitting on a stool at the dark cherry wood wine bar, her short legs barely reaching the rung. It was instantly clear to him that she had rehearsed what she was going to say and that nothing he could say or do would stop her.

     "Rick, I'm so glad you could come," Cookie said as he joined her. "I'm having a glass of Travieso Winery's Amaranta which is a Syrah."

     "Travieso," Rick said, his eyes lighting up. "I know the owners. Mats Hagstrom is a medical doctor and Ray Sliter is a marine geophysicist. The labels are very colorful and some depict names from Latin American folklore."

      "Really," Cookie said. "That's a good omen because I asked you here to talk about a student who is from Latin America. I mean Mexico."

      "This is a superb wine," Rick said as the woman behind the bar poured him a glass, intent on keeping Cookie off the subject of her latest juvenile delinquent as long as possible. "They make a some great blends that I love."

     "Let's get their daily special," Cookie said. "The appetizers here are always very unusual. Erin and Teresa and I have tried to duplicate them, but with not much success on most of them. But, we have made today's special dish. You'll see what I mean when you try it. Incidentally, I've already ordered for us. Hope you don't mind."

       "These hot Italian sausages and peppers are delicious," Rick said as he took the first bite from the small serving bowl. "I went to school in Valencia, Spain for a summer and I was hoping to got to Italy, but my bags got put on the wrong train and I ended up going to Switzerland instead. I want to eat my way from the top of Italy to the bottom."

      "That's a great goal," Cookie said. "Italian food is really special. This dish is only made of hot Italian sausages, onions, peppers and a little garlic. Of course this bread makes it perfect."

      "Benissimo," Rick said as he put some of the sausages on the bread and started to feel the effects of the wine.

       "I also want to thank you again for winning that grievance this summer to reduce the counselor/student ratio," Cookie went on. "Now, I'll have more time to work with the students."

      "I didn't do that by myself," Rick told her. "We filed the grievance at our school and the union carried it through to arbitration. The ruling went against the district and now we have one new counselor."

     "Don't be so humble," Cookie said. "I heard that you wrote the opening statement, the arguments and the closing statement. You kicked the butts of the district's high priced attorneys."

     "I guess so," Rick said. "Enough of the small talk. We're good friends and I know what you're trying to do. Each year you pick a couple of students that you want to save and then you attempt to sucker a faculty member into helping you. This year it's me."

      "Sylvia Medina is a kid with lots of potential and she needs someone to mentor her," Cookie told him purposely ignoring his comment. "I've read the cum folder on this girl. Also I talked to her junior high counselor. She is a great person and had a very loving mother. Her father was a strict disciplinarian."

       "That's typical for Mexican-American families," Rick said. "Most of my students come from families like that."

       "That's right," Cookie replied. "But most of the families haven't lost the mother. When this happened, Sylvia had no one to turn to. She was leaving the junior high school, going through the process of becoming a woman and because of the boundary changes, her junior high school friends went to another school. She was very much alone."

Travieso Winery

     Travieso Winery is located in an industrial area of Campbell, California. The winemaking facility and tasting room are located in a section of many nondescript cement block buildings. Mats Hagstrom a medical doctor and Ray Sliter a marine geophysicist established the winery in 2003 and in 2005 they became bonded and were sharing their facilities with Pinder Winery. It has taken almost seven years, but they have now taken over the Pinder facilities.

The philosophy of the winemakers is to keep control over the grapes so they only purchase acre by acre. They use minimal sulfite additions during the crush and allow many of the fermentations to soak and some taken with wild yeast. Barrels consisting of 30-50% new French oak are used and wine is aged between 24 and 36 months.

     The labels are very colorful and some depict names from Latin American Folklore. La Llorona is a white wine blend consisting of Viognier, Chardonnay and Roussanne. El Chupacabras is a red blend consisting of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre and Viognier. They also produce Amaranta, a Syrah, The Other Program Sangiovese, and an El Rey Cabernet Sauvignon. Current production is about 600 cases a year.

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Teresa's Hot Italian Sausages and Peppers with Travieso Amaranta

     Teresa thinks that this dish is great for a potluck or as a light supper when served with a garden salad and bread. When she serves the dish as an appetizer, she buys six-inch sandwich rolls and cuts them in half. This allows the guests to spoon the sausage and peppers on the roll to create a three-inch sandwich.

When she serves this dish as the main course, she puts slices of Italian around the plate and then pours the sausage mixture in the center. The Amaranta complements the spicy Italian sausage,

Serves 6

6 whole hot Italian sausages

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion

1 green bell pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

Boil the sausages for about 10 min and then set them aside.

Chop the pepper and onion in 3/4-1" pieces. Pour in the olive oil, add the diced garlic, peppers and onion. Cook the vegetables over medium high heat just until they begin to soften. Put the contents of the skillet into a large bowl and set aside.

Slice sausages into 1/2" thick pieces. Place one more tablespoon olive oil into the skillet and fry the sausages until they are lightly browned along the edges.

 Stir in the bowl of cooked vegetables and continue to cook on medium-high setting, stirring every 2 minutes for about 10 minutes.

Serve with a garden salad

Put bread around the plate and place the sausages in the center

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