Monthly Archives December 2020

I know, my berry never really has the right temperature for mulled mulled wine. But I think in December it looks so good on me. I love this recipe. It’s delicious and so suitable for Christmas that you just have to include it in your Christmas menu. It smells of good news, love, peace and all that Christmas stands for. It also reminds me of London and the Christmas carols in the streets. I know it’s easier to just serve red wine when you have a crowd of people in your house and you’re cooking and being a hostess. But with that, it’s just a little more special.

Ingredients

2 oranges, peeled and squeezed (use peels for zest)

Half a cup of demerara sugar

1 cup of water

1 vanilla pod

4 cloves

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp. chilli, ground

2 teaspoons of grated nutmeg

1 bottle of full-bodied red wine

Half a cup of cognac

1 lemon, peeled

Method

In a non-stick saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water.

Add the zest and juice of the two oranges.

Add the vanilla bean, cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, all the spices and grated nutmeg.

Bring to a boil.

After about 25 minutes, add about half a cup of wine

Simmer an additional 20 minutes for a syrupy consistency, infused with all the flavors.

Add the remaining wine and brandy and gently bring to a boil for about 2 minutes.

Do not overheat as the alcohol will evaporate.

Pour into glasses and serve hot

You can also add seasonal fruits to mulled mulled wine. Let the preparation sit for 15 min.

Always serve hot, but do not reheat.

Excerpt from “From My Kitchen To Yours” by Maria Goretti, courtesy Om Books International. The snippet has been edited slightly for style.

This is very rich, so I often find that he stretches to serve eight. The instructions here are to strain the cooking juices, discard the veg, and reduce the sauce (cook some fresh veg to serve on the side) but I don’t always do that. Even though the vegetables have been cooked for four hours, I leave them sometimes (especially when time is short).

Preparation time: 10 min | Cooking time: 4 hours 30 minutes

SERVED

Six

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 beef cheeks, about 1.5 kg (or more) in total
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 2 like garlic, crushed
• 20 ml of marsala or port
• 200 ml of red wine
• 1.2 liters of beef or chicken broth
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 juniper berries, bruised
• 6 sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 150 ° C / thermostat 2.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish on the fire and brown the beef cheeks on all sides, seasoning them also. Remove from the pan.
3. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pan and cook over medium-low heat until the onions are light golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes, then pour over the marsala or port and red wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the broth, spices and herbs, season and return the beef cheeks. Bring the mixture to a very gentle boil.
4. Cover with a lid and bake for 4 hours. Turn the beef cheeks from time to time. At the end of cooking, the meat should melt.
5. Remove the meat, set it aside and strain the cooking liquid. Remove the fat from the top of the cooking juices and discard it (adding ice cubes will help it set slightly on the top, which will make the task easier). Return the drained juices to the saucepan and reduce while boiling if you want them to be thicker.
6. Cut each beef cheek in half (or cut them into smaller pieces) and reheat in the sauce. Serve with fresh vegetables – I like carrots and cabbage or cavolo nero – and mashed potatoes or polenta.

Susannah Glynn discovers the best classic mulled wine recipe and offers some little twists.

Few things are as warm and welcome as mulled wine on a cold winter day. Unlike many of our Christmas traditions, which originate in the Victorian era, mulled and spiced wine dates back at least to medieval times (other sources cite references to a mulled wine equivalent to the era of the Ancient Greece and the physician Hippocrates), when it is believed that spices were added to the wine that had gone bad to mask the taste and that the heated mixture had medicinal properties.

While there are generic suggestions on which herbs and spices are best suited for a good spicy mulled wine, there are few hard and fast rules, and the concoction below can be tweaked and added for taste.

There are a few other tips to keep in mind. Always use a stainless steel saucepan, as acids in wine can react with aluminum saucepans and leave a metallic taste. And don’t let the mixture boil – not only will the alcohol evaporate, but boiling can cause the mixture to separate.

You should also use half-decent wine – the general consensus may be that cheap red wine will do the trick but, as Emily Monseur of Berry Bros. told us, “if you use bad wine you might end up with bad wine. completely spoil the taste “. Emily recommends a fruity, full-bodied wine that isn’t too acidic – an Australian shiraz is a good choice, but a tempranillo from Spain or a Chilean merlot work well. All are robust and fruity but won’t overwhelm the spices.

For something more, follow the lead of the Swedes, who add raisins and sometimes almonds along with a bit of vodka to their mulled wine equivalent, Glogg.

And finally, in the unlikely event that there is any left over, you don’t need to get rid of it. After the fruit is drained, the mulled wine can be stored in the refrigerator for several days and reheated later.

mulled wine recipe

Ingredients

For 12 people

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Pinch of grated fresh nutmeg
• 12 cloves
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• (Other herbs and spices that can be added include anise, cardamom (crushed), and vanilla)
• The juice of an orange
• One orange and one lemon cut into wedges
• 4 tablespoons of Demerara sugar or honey
• Tablespoon of spirits or fortified wine. Cointreau, Grand Marnier, port or brandy do the trick.
• 20cm square muslin or fabric bag tied with string
• Steel saucepan

Method

Collect the herbs and spices in the muslin to make a bag. Making your own grinder bag will eliminate the need to strain the mixture at the end.

Pour ¼ liter of water and 4 tablespoons of Demerara sugar in a stainless steel saucepan with the sachet of muslin.

Heat until the sugar has dissolved and you have a spicy syrup left.

Add the wine, juice and pieces of fruit and heat for about 45 minutes but do not allow the mixture to boil.

Add any additional alcohol just before serving.

This recipe first appeared in Country Life in 2009, and still tastes great!