Mulled Wine

Mulled wine, variations of which are popular around the world,  generally consists of wine mixed with spices and served hot. Originally, preparing mulled wine was a way to extend the life of a wine that had passed its prime,Nowadays, it is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas.
There are several variotions:
Glögg is drunk in Scandinavian countries.
Glühwein is the German version of mulled wine, made with red wine, sugar and spices
Quentão is a Brazilian form of mulled wine. It is made of cachaça, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented sugarcane
Mulled wine is called vin brulé in Italy, vin chaud in France and grzane wino in Poland

In any language...bottoms up!!!
Mulled Wine Recipe

Makes about 16 servings.

Ingredients
1 orange

1 lemon (sliced)

10 whole cloves

5 cardamom pods

3 black peppercorns

Two  cinnamon sticks

1 1/2 liters  fruity red wine, such as Merlot

1 cup honey (you could always use sugar but honey gives this a great taste)

2/3 cup Grand Marnier on any orange-flavored liqueur

Method
Remove the zest from the orange.

Rinse and wring out a 12-inch-square piece of cheesecloth.

Wrap the orange zest, sliced lemon, cloves, pepper corns, cardamon pods, and cinnamon sticks in the cheesecloth and tie with a piece of kitchen string.

Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from the orange. Set the juice aside.

In a large  pot, combine the wine, honey, Grand Marnier, orange juice, and the cheesecloth package.
Heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the honey, over low heat until hot but not boiling, about 30 minutes. (Never let it come to a boil. If you let it heat very slowly over low heat, the spices and orange zest can release their flavors.)
Serve warm.

Apple Chutney

A great recipe taken from the Times on line. I made a couple of jars of this and it's great with pork.
Makes three 500g jars
This chutney will last for up to six months and will improve as it matures.

Ingredients
1kg Bramley apples
500g onions, diced
400g tin chopped tomatoes
300ml cider vinegar
300ml orange juice
150g dried apples, chopped
2tsp ground allspice
1 tsp each ground ginger,
mace and mustard seeds
400g caster sugar

Method
1 Peel and core the apples and cut them into small chunks.
2 Place all the ingredients except the sugar in a preserving pan or other wide, deep pan. Bring just to the boil, then simmer for two hours, stirring frequently.
3 Add the sugar and stir well. Continue cooking over a low heat for an hour, stirring often.
4 Ladle into sterilised jars while still hot. When cold, store in the fridge or a cool, dark place.

Perfect Pan di Spagna - Sponge Cake

The 'secret' to a perfect result is in the beating of the eggs and the sugar. It is during this stage that air is incorporated to the mixture and that is essential for the cake to turn out really soft and sponge like without using any yeast.Eggs and sugar have to be beaten for quite a while, never less than 15 mins, with a good beater until the mixture is frothy and a pale yellow in colour. To test that it has been beaten enough, if you let some of the mixture fall from the beater back into the mixture, it remains 'sitting' on top for a while. If this doesn’t happen it means that the eggs have not been beaten enough and you need to beat them much more.


Don't forget the salt - often omitted - as this helps the eggs to become light and fluffy

Another  phase where you have to be careful is the addition of the flour. This has to be sifted extremely well and added to the egg mixture using a wooden spoon with a gentle but fast movement, stirring from bottom to top, folding in as much air as possible

While cooking, the oven must NEVER be opened as this will cause the cake to deflate. Before removing it from the oven, check that the sides have pulled inwards from the pan, check that the cake is ready using a skewer poked into the middle of the cake. If it comes out absolutely clean then the cake is ready

It is also a good idea that when the cake is ready, turn off the oven but leave the cake there for about 10 mins so that it can cool down slowly. After that, turn the cake out of the pan and put it on a cooling rack

Ingredients:
6 eggs
180gms sugar
75 gms flour
75 gms corn flour (corn starch for Americans)
Pinch of salt
(optional - grated rind of 1/2 lemon)

Method

Put eggs and sugar into a bowl and beat for about 15 mins until you have a frothy foamy mixture Add the flours by sifting them into the mixture and folding gently with a wooden spoon.
Put the mixture into a well greased cake tin, level out the mixture and cook in a pre heated over at 150C for about 40 mins

This can be used as a base for tiramisu or trifle and is also delicious on its own with just a dusting of powdered sugar