Traditional Mulled Wine In The Crock Pot Food

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.

TRADITIONAL MULLED WINE IN THE CROCK POT

Steps:

• Make the tea. Let it steep and cool slightly. Add to crock pot. (I added about 4 cups).
• Cut the lemons and oranges into slices. Add the red wine. Add the brandy (cognac could be substituted).
• Add sugar to taste.
• Add cinnamon sticks and cloves.
• Heat in the crock pot for approximately 3 hours, or until warmed. (I was turning the pot on/off when the wine got too hot/cold during the evening).
• Note: Never let the wine mixture boil, or it will spoil. I used home made wine that our friend had given us. I used Ginger Tea, but any herbal tea could be used ~ or ~ for a different taste, use orange or pineapple juice.

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.

GLUEHWEIN (GERMAN MULLED WINE)

Steps:

• Pour the wine into a large pot and set over medium heat. Let it warm up until steam rises from the surface, but do not allow it to boil. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon juice and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Float the orange slices on the surface. Warm over medium heat for another 5 minutes, being careful not to let it come to a boil. Remove from the heat and let stand for 1 hour.
• Pour through a colander to remove to oranges and spices. Serve hot, or refrigerate and reheat gently just before serving in mugs.

EASY MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Combine red wine, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, lemon peel, and orange peel in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Heat gently, but don't boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar, and once dissolved, taste to see if you'd like to add more.
• Keep hot on medium to low heat for 20 minutes to let the flavors infuse the wine. Serve your mulled wine hot in glasses or mugs.

SLOW COOKER CRANBERRY-ORANGE MULLED WINE

Steps:

• Add wine, orange juice, cranberries, and sugar to a 3-quart or larger Crock Pot. Stir to help sugar begin to dissolve.
• Wash orange thoroughly and stud the orange with the cloves - just stick the cloves directly into the peel, pointy end first. I like to poke it all over with a toothpick first to make holes for the cloves.
• Add the clove-studded orange and the cinnamon sticks to the wine.
• Cook on low for 2 - 3 hours, or until the berries are tender. You can cook it for an hour or two longer if you wish, but take care that it doesn't boil.
• Remove the orange and the cinnamon sticks, then VERY CAREFULLY pour the mulled wine through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heat-proof bowl. Using the back of the spoon, press on the cranberries to get all of the juices into the bowl. A berry or two may burst, so watch out!
• Return wine to the Crock Pot and stir in the brandy. Taste and add additional sugar until it's just sweet enough. I like it just past the pucker point; you may prefer a sweeter mulled wine.
• Ladle into mugs and serve with a cinnamon stick, an orange slice, and/or fresh cranberries pushed onto a cocktail stick, if desired.
• Keep your Crock Pot on the "warm" setting to keep the wine nice and hot. If your Crock Pot doesn't have a warm setting, try alternating between "low" and off.

MOM'S MULLED CIDER FOR THE CROCK POT

Steps:

• Set a medium or large crock pot to HIGH heat.
• Fill crock pot with cider- leaving room for the apple and orange to float around (we'll get to them in a minute).
• You will have extra cider at this point- use this for replenishing later.
• Wash the orange and apple and dry off.
• Poke cloves into the flesh of the orange and the apple- as many as you like.
• Set the cloves studded fruit into the crock pot.
• Add cinnamon sticks and some brown sugar to taste.
• Using a vegetable peeler, cut off two long strips of lemon rind from one of the lemons, being careful not to get any of the white pith.
• Drop these into the cider pot and save the rest of the partially zested lemon for another use.
• Slice the remaining lemon into thin slices and drop 4-5 slices into the cider pot.
• Save the remaining slices for later or another use (I set them in a dish for guests to use as garnish).
• Cover crock pot and let mixture come to almost a boil (this may take up to an hour- this will vary greatly depending upon the size of your crock pot).
• Once it is almost boiling,sprinkle with a very light dash of each ground spice to taste (don't add too much or it will be gritty).
• Turn the heat down to LOW and allow cider to cook at least another hour before serving.
• Leave the crock pot on LOW and allow guests to ladle out mugfuls.
• Keep replenishing more cider as the crockpot empties.
• You will NOT need to add more spices, etc, as long as you still have 1/4 of the original mulled cider left in the crock.
• No need to return to a boil, just pour in the new cider and continue to heat on LOW.
• The last dregs of cider will be very heavily spiced- I usually discard the remaining 1/4 of liquid after I am finished replenishing the cider for the day.