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Glögg - Glühwein - Mulled Wine à la Sheldon
For each bottle of earthy red (I've been using an Ozzie Cabernet-Sauvignon):
1 cup, which is to say 8 oz or about 1/4 L water 3 heaping T (tablespoons) raw sugar 1 T orange marmalade 1 - 2 tsp slivers of fresh or dried orange peel 1 heaping T white raisins 1 heaping T dried currants 1/2 tsp coarsely chopped fresh ginger 1 T coarsely chopped crystallised ginger 1 small (2 inches or 5 cm) stick cinnamon 8 slightly crushed peppercorns 6 whole cloves or 1/4 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp hulled cardamom seeds 1/2 tsp ground allspice 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
In a heavy kettle heat the water with the sugar, marmalade and spices but don't let it boil. Keep this light syrup at just below a simmer for five minutes. Add the wine, slowly, stirring. Bring it to just below a simmer and keep it there, stirring occasionally, for 10 - 15 minutes. Pour it through a sieve into a pre-heated chafing dish, carafe or thermos flask in which you have just dumped 2 - 4 shots of room-temperature vodka and another heaping tsp of chopped crystallised ginger. (BTW, you can dry the cinnamon stick after you've poured off the wine, to use it in the next batch.)
No need to stick to this recipe strictly. You can experiment with honey, anise, orange juice, a variety of spirits or no spirits at all -- cointreau might be nice -- the variations depend on your taste, your inclinations and what's in your pantry. Some folks soak the fruits and spices in spirits for a number of hours or days before adding the water and sugar.
Point is, with a few glasses of this coursing in your veins, you're invincible.
Cheers! Joanna
www.overlookhouse.com