American Style Hot Spiced Wine
Sanjiv Singh
Recipe from Marion Kee, January 1987. To use with 0.75 liters of wine. All
spices are whole (if you want to use ground, be sure to put them in a bag they
will stay in, and experiment to find the proper amounts.) The amount of sugar
will vary to taste, but remember that you can always add more, but can't remove
what you have put in. Start with a decent grade of red table wine (anything
really good is basically wasted when you cover the taste with spices, but
anything actually bad will likely still be bad when you are done. I like to
use the Yugoslavian & Rumanian red wines such as Avia or Sipon. French or
German or Italian will do fine depending on how much you want to spend (some
Italians are cheap and will do fine.) I usually use a Cabernet Sauvignon type,
but use whatever you like.) This works with white wines too (I suppose you
would cut down the spices a bit and maybe up the amount of orange.) Two wines
that would do well with the recipe: a Spanish Sangre de Torro and Carlo Rossi's
Paysano.
Heat the wine over low-medium heat in a non-metal container (I use a
Corningware casserole which is rangetop safe). Do NOT allow it to heat too
fast, and God forbid it should boil. When it's starting to get hot, stir in the
sugar gradually, stirring until dissolved. Turn off the heat whenever you think
it is hot enough (some amount hotter than the temperature at which you intend
to serve it, since it's going to sit for a while). Place the spices in a
cheesecloth bag and add them. Cover the pot and let steep for however long you
wish. (I like 15 minutes). Remove the spices, add sliced citrus and serve with
a non-metal ladle or dipper (if you don't take out the spices, subsequent
servings will have a stronger spice taste).
From the Dinner Co-op