Mulled wine recepies

[Fly]

Anyone got any good recepies? May have to be creative as may not have all the ingredients.

[PeckhamRose]

Pinch of ginger, a cinnamon stick, cuople of cloves and some nutmeg.

Sometimes I also add a teaspoon of Mollasses sugar but demerara will probably also do.

Maybe a tablespoon of honey or even Maple syrup could be good too!

Bung 'em in a saucepan with half a pint of water.

Bring to the boil stirring regularly then gently simmer for about 15 mins.

Pour the lot through a strainer into another saucepan and add a bottle of red wine. I use the cheapest.

Heat, mixing the lot together, but do not allow to boil as this will delete the alcohol from the mix.

At the point it is hot and nearly boiling, withdraw the pan from the heat, mix in a quarter bottle of brandy or port whichever you choose, stir and pour into warmed mugs.

Mwaaa!

[Sue]

Mix dark brown Muscovado sugar with boiling water to make a syrup.

Add cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon sticks broken into pieces, fresh grated nutmeg, mace, star anise - or a selection of those but I use the lot ! You can add Sainsbury's basic orange juice if you like.

Also add oranges and a lemon cut into bits.

If you have time, simmer all these together for a while - you can then leave the mixture overnight, if not it doesn't matter, you just won't get the full spice taste.

Sainsbury's house red (comes in 1.5 litre plastic bottles) is cheap and is fine for mulled wine.

Add cheap brandy or dark rum to taste.

I don't bother sieving the bits out, but some people may not like them.

To do a Scandinavian version (Glog) you can add almonds and raisins if you like.

Experiment till you find a variation you like - mine changes every time but it's always delicious! You might like it more or less sweet, for example, or you may prefer rum to brandy.

As PeckhamRose says, for goodness sake don't let it boil once you've added the alcohol, unless you want a non-alcoholic mulled wine .....

And it's very strong, so don't be fooled by the sweet taste ....

Enjoy :)

ETA: I sometimes add sliced fresh ginger ....

ETA: I put a dessert spoon in the glass when pouring in the hot wine, to stop the glass cracking, but not sure if this is just a myth ....

[malumbu]

Some great ideas here. I always add orange juice (cheap stuff) and sugar. Brandy too. A lemon with cloves in it is both decorative and functional. I'd use a full bodied wine, but experiment.

It will take some time for all the alcohol to boil off.

Other intersting ingredients are pepercorns, and .... whole chillies, both will give it a kick, but make sure not to eat! Grated ginger will do similar.

I tend not to add more as it cooks, apart from liquid, as using some raw spices will strenthen things.

Don't use those bloody spice teabags, and don't ever ever ever buy that spiced wine from Ikea. Yes dear reader, I did venture there once, through the rear entrance so I could order something functional, but I too got sucked into an impulse purchase. I am so ashamed

So back to teh recipes - great advice here, experiment and develop you own fave.

[Sue]

malumbu Wrote:

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> Don't use those bloody spice teabags, and don't

> ever ever ever buy that spiced wine from Ikea.

xxxxxxx

Actually Ikea's mulled wine varies greatly.

One year they had two different kinds (both alcoholic) and one kind was delicious and the other was revolting.

But - if they've got any left - DON'T be tempted to buy the mulled wine which the Co-Op had on offer before Christmas reduced to ?2.99 a bottle. At that price I thought it was worth a try even if only as a basis for "proper" mulled wine.

It was without doubt one of the most disgusting things I've ever drunk. Pale pink syrupy stuff, yuk yuk yuk (I still drank it all though, in the interests of experimentation. Waste not want not, etc.)

ETA: I agree re using full-bodied red wine, but having said that I found the Sainsbury's house red did the job this year :)) If you aren't going to add brandy or rum, it's probably more important to make sure your wine isn't too "thin".

[Fly]

Thanks