Easy Mulled Wine Food

EASY MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Pour the red wine into a large saucepan. Add the clementine, cinnamon stick, star anise, dried figs, cloves and black peppercorns. Heat very gently until simmering, then turn off the heat.
• Fish out the whole spices and peppercorns with a spoon, then stir in the brandy. Ladle into mugs, or heatproof glasses to serve. You could drop in a slice of clementine to each.

CLASSIC MULLED WINE

Steps:

• To prepare the oranges, if using 2 small, slice one orange into rounds and slice the other in half. If using 1 large orange, slice it in half through the round middle, then slice one of the halves into rounds. Place the rounds into a medium heavy-bottomed pot or small Dutch oven. Squeeze the juice from the remaining oranges into the pot.
• Pour the wine into the pot, followed by the brandy. Add 1 tablespoon of the sweetener for now. Add the cinnamon sticks, star anise and cloves.
• Warm the mixture over medium heat until steaming (about 5 minutes), and keep an eye on it. When you start seeing the tiniest of bubbles at the surface, reduce the heat to the lowest of low.
• Carefully taste, and add another tablespoon of sweetener if it's not sweet enough for your liking. If it's not spicy enough to suit your preferences, continue cooking over very low heat for 5 to 10 more minutes.
• Serve in mugs with your desired garnishes! If you're adding cranberries as I did, you can add them to the pot to make it look extra festive.
• If you expect to polish off the mulled wine within 20 minutes or so, you can keep it on the stove over extra-low heat (it will become more spicy with time). Otherwise, remove it from the heat, cover, and rewarm over low heat if necessary. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days, covered (pour it through a strainer if you don't want it to become any more spicy than it already is).

SLOW-COOKER MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Wrap the cloves, star anise and cinnamon in a small square of cheesecloth and secure it with kitchen twine.
• Combine the wine, sugar if using, orange zest, orange juice, rosemary and the spice pouch in a slow cooker. Cook on low heat until hot, about 1 hour. Adjust the slow cooker to the "warm" setting. Serve in mugs with a rosemary sprig as garnish.

MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Combine the cider, wine, honey, cinnamon sticks, zest, juice, cloves and star anise in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Pour into mugs, add an orange peel to each and serve.

EASY GLUHWEIN RECIPE (MULLED WINE)

Steps:

• Place a medium sauce-pan over medium-high heat on the stove.
• Add the orange juice and granulated sugar and stir until the granulated sugar is dissolved.
• Then, add in the red wine and all of the spices and fruits.The spices will be whole, not ground in a container, so their flavors will infuse into the liquid! Add the brandy if you are using it.
• Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mulled wine for 30 minutes. At this point, taste the Gluhwein and adjust the flavor as necessary! You may want to add a little more sugar or add more brandy if it is too sweet for you! You can simmer the Gluhwein for up to a couple hours if you have time!
• Serve the mulled wine garnished with cinnamon sticks, orange peel, star anise, cranberries, and more!

QUICK MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a heatproof jug (or in a saucepan).
• You can alter the proportion of orange juice to red wine according to taste.
• Microwave on HIGH for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes (or heat in a saucepan on the stove) until hot but NOT BOILING.
• Stir.
• Pour into wine glasses and serve.