Much as we love an invigorating stomp along the shoreline, with the wind in our hair – there are more festive ways of finding that ‘warm glow’ feeling…
Nothing beats coming in from the cold to the smell of warm spices heating in a pan. We asked Neil Haydock, executive chef at Watergate Bay Hotel, to share his recipe for mulled wine.
“I like adding Cointreau to amp up the citrus,” Neil says. “And the black cardamom gives a nice smokey twist on the classic flavours – evoking memories of drinking mulled wine around the fire.”
CHEF’S MULLED WINE
Serves 10
2 star anise
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom pod
1 vanilla pod
300g light brown sugar
2 clementines quartered
1 medium lemon cut into 8 pieces
300ml orange juice
2 bottles of decent red wine
100ml Cointreau
- Split the vanilla pod lengthways
- Place into a stainless steel pan that will hold at least 3 litres of liquid
- Add the other spices, brown sugar, clementines, lemon and orange juice
- Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar and infuse the spices
- Turn down and simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the red wine and Cointreau
- Bring back to a simmer, then turn down immediately (do not boil as this will evaporate the alcohol and imbalance the flavour profile)
- Serve, sip and feel the glow…
