Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Baby, it's cold outside!

Recipe for Mulled Wine
I have perfected this recipe over many years and I think it is as close to perfect as I'm ever going to get anything

Bottle of inexpensive red wine. ( I use the French table wine from Tescos but the Bulgarian cabernet sauvignon is good too

1 orange, sliced into half inch slices, dont use the top or bottom slice as there is too much pith in proportion to flesh and pith makes it taste bitter. (I will resist the urge to make any further comment here)

Brandy or port or sherry in order of preference. If you want to make falling down water then use all three. Fill a large mug half full with chosen plonk - Tesco's own tawny port is lovely for this - and top up to full with water. Add another mug of water or else you'll be asleep by eight.

Soft brown sugar to taste. I use about 1 or 2 tablespoons. Don't use too much or else it will start to taste medicinal, weird I know but there it is.

5 cloves
1 large cinnamon stick. Tap the stick very gently with a wooden spoon. It releases the scent of the spice into the wine.
1 decent sized piece of whole dried ginger root. This can be difficult to get hold of. I got mine in a health food shop in Aberystwyth, Do not be tempted to use powdered ginger, it clouds the wine and it hangs around on the tongue too. If you cant get it whole dried, use fresh (peeled) but then make it a large piece.

Put all the ingredients in a large sauce pan and heat very gently until steam starts to curl slowly from the pan. Strain and serve in heat proof glasses.

DON'T DRINK THIS AND DRIVE AS IT IS STRONG STUFF!

Roasted chestnuts are the desired accompaniment with this but gingerbread is good too.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

sian. just make a strong cup of tea and lace it with rum, can't be doing with all that brewing, hic hic, to much run or is it rum. who cares Hic.enjoy read Ephesians 5:18.
lots of love poddy

Nicole said...

Yum, sounds like a fun recipe to try! Especially since M likes wine.

A question, though - I'm guessing you tap the cinnamon stick, and then add it to the pan to simmer with the rest?

Sian said...

Pod: Rum is good in truffles and coffee, I daren't try it in tea...who knows where I would stop! :D

Nicole: It is an excellent recipe (even if I do say so myself!) but you need a red with a bit of oomph, a bit of a dark side as it were. Try a shiraz as your lovely, happy Californian wines are often a bit too sunny to take to mulling well.
And yes, tap the spices lightly before adding them to the pan, it releases the flavour into the wine. Have fun!