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Thanksgiving: Mulled Wine

Source of Recipe

From "Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"I will forever associate mulled wine with a winter night I spent once at the Bread & Puppet compound in Glover, Vermont, singing madrigals. I was 13 and had made my way there with older friends, to attend the funeral of an avant-garde theater director who worked at our Brooklyn school. Once of his last productions: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, by Bertolt Brecht. It was a different time. We flew bird puppets around in a big field and then crowded into a barn in the dark. There was a hurdy-gurdy, and all these women with big church voices out of the past, and men smoking in the doorway, their faces lighted by the fireplace or cigarettes or both, and enough wine to float our memories into the inky black sky. I couldn't say it then, because I was 13 and a boy from the city with a skateboard and anger issues. But it was so, so great. This drink tastes of that night, and is perfect for one of those Thanksgiving weekends where the air smells of snow. If you want to get fancy, wrap the cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, and cloves in a sheet of cheesecloth and tie it off with string, so that people don't end up with bits of spice in their glass. But this is not necessary."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 ½ cups sugar
â—¦ 3 cups water
â—¦ 4 cinnamon sticks, approximately 3 inches each
â—¦ 10 green cardamom pods
â—¦ 6 black peppercorns
â—¦ 8 whole cloves
â—¦ 2 bottles of dry red wine
â—¦ 2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise
â—¦ 1 orange, cut into quarters


Recipe

In a large pot set over high heat, bring the sugar and water to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Add the cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, peppercorns, and cloves, then the wine, and then the vanilla beans and the orange. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes.

Do not allow to boil.