Mulled Wine Syrup

~  Menu  ~

Peppered and Creamy Salmon Pâté

Nubbly Toast

Glass of White Wine

A modicum of Vanilla Ice Cream with a drizzle of Mulled Wine Syrup

I had peppered salmon for dinner last night – just fillet of salmon generously sprinkled with ground pepper and pan fried.  That’s it, simples.  It was very good with sautéed potatoes, salad and Alfredo Sauce but I couldn’t eat it all – luckily!

Today I was considering a simple salmon salad sarnie but I spied the remnants of a pack of Boursin in the fridge so I pestled or mortared, or whatever the verb is, the salmon and the cheese together and loosened the mixture with a little cream and a squeeze of lemon.  It was so good one would have thought I’d planned it!

This morning I made some Mulled Wine Syrup for Christmas and had a spoonful or so too much to go in my allocated bottle.  I drizzled it over a little vanilla ice cream and tidied it away - what would you do? 

Mulled Wine Syrup

This makes 75ml which, as luck would have it is sufficient to mull one bottle of wine and 2 tbsp of syrup is enough to mull 1 standard glass of wine.

1 orange

1 lemon

250g light brown sugar

60ml red wine

1 cinnamons stick

1 vanilla pod

2 slices of fresh ginger

a generous grating of nutmeg

~   Remove the zest from both fruits in long strips – make sure not to get any of the white pith involved.

~   Squeeze the juice from the orange (set the bald lemon aside to do something else with sometime) and put in a small (non reactive is best) pan with the zests, the sugar and the red wine.

~   Stir together over medium heat till the sugar has melted.

~   Add the spices, turn up the heat and cook at a gentle boil for about 5 minutes to form a light syrup.

~   Cool to room temperature before removing the spices then strain the syrup pressing on the debris to get out all the delicious juices.

~   Pour into a clean bottle and keep in a cool place till needed.

To Use ~ warm over low heat, add the red wine and heat through.  Don’t allow to boil or the alcohol will evaporate off.  Speaking of alcohol a little brandy could advantageously be added to the glass when serving.

Useful tip ~ to clean the pan warm a little wine in it stirring till the syrup has melted and have yourself a tester.

My opinion ~ this is a much better way of mulling wine than the traditional method of heating a whole bottle of wine with the flavourings; quicker and easier at the time of serving and, crucially, a lot less wasteful of Alcohol!

It’s been another lovely day here, by the way – one month off Christmas and it’s warm, sunny and beautiful; all golden and crunchy.