Hot Mulled Wine

Great for those cold nights on the wall, Winter is coming you know.

 After reading about this is a Song of Fire and Ice, I was tempted to try it. If you're in the southern hemisphere like me then Winter is already here and blisteringly cold so far. But if you're up on the top side I'm sure you're enjoying a nice Summer, so you might want to try this around Christmas or just when ever you feel like trying something you haven't.

The Recipe I used:

1 bottle red wine
65ml water
65g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 cloves
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
a couple of pieces of lemon peel
a couple of pieces of orange peel
a pinch of ground nutmeg
(20ml brandy if you're so inclined)
Simmer together in a pot for 10-20 minutes till hot (don't let it boil)

So how did it turn out? Really well to be honest. My friends and I being late to the party only just recently (though before the tv series started) got into the Song of Fire and Ice series, and after reading about hot spiced wine to keep away the chills we just had to try it. Now we're a bunch of 24ish guys, no real cooking experience and mostly just drink beer but this was really simple (even for us) and really good.

After quickly searching for a recipe and one of my friends moving into a new flat we decided to give it a go. After a quick run to the local store (and a brief argument over what on earth star anise was) we found everything we need from the fruit, spice and beverage sections. Since I am Australian and biased the wine we used was a bottle of Wolf-Blass red label, cheap but nice.

Off back to my friends house we began to throw everything in the pot, after another argument on whether we should cut the Orange into quarters and add it to the mix for a more citrus taste such as I like (I was outvoted and we just followed the recipe, though we forgot the bay leaf and the store didn't have any brandy) and let it simmer on the stove for around 15 minutes (important not to let it boil that gets rid of the alcohol, where is the fun in that?) until the spices had time to soak in. The smell of the cooking process is amazing, reminds me of Christmas and holiday cheer with all the spice. After it was ready we drained it through a sieve and divided it by threes.

The results? Amazing, smelled incredible and did rid that chill of winter from our bones, even if we stayed inside to watch a bad movie, rather than stand out on a wall of ice. Try for yourself and enjoy.

Original Recipe Link:
http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/165769/cooking-101-gl-hwein-mulled-wine