Now that winter has set in and
we are at the start of the festive season I thought some hot toddy recipes
might be useful. Firstly then, yer actual hot toddy …
Cough & Cold Medicine for Adults aka Hot Toddy
1 tablespoon of runny honey
1 measure of whisky (bourbon works well if you are out of the normal stuff!)
2 cloves (I always leave these out!) or a star anise
1 cinnamon stick
200ml just boiled hot water or hot brewed tea of your choice
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
1 slice of lemon
~ Stir together the
honey, whisky and cloves or star anise in a heatproof glass or mug.
~ Pour in the hot water or tea, add the lemon juice and slice and stir with the cinnamon stick.
~ Pour in the hot water or tea, add the lemon juice and slice and stir with the cinnamon stick.
Cranberry Orange Toddy
As above but replace the hot water/tea with hot cranberry juice and use orange juice instead of lemon.
Mulled Wine
Making mulled wine syrup in advance is a brilliant idea; much
better than the traditional way of heating a whole bottle of wine with the
flavourings. It is quicker and easier at the time of serving and, crucially, a
lot less wasteful of alcohol!
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
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.
~ 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 mulled wine syrup …
Warm the syrup gently over low heat, add the red wine and
heat through. Don’t allow to boil or
some of the alcohol will evaporate off.
Speaking of alcohol a little brandy could advantageously be added to the
glass when serving.
Mulled White Wine
Makes a change! Make a syrup as above but using white wine and caster sugar
instead of brown sugar.
Wassail - Mulled Cider
Wassail comes from the Old Norse phrase “ves heill” meaning
meant “good health”. In addition to
being a general festive greeting, accompanied by a bevvy, it was also a way of
honouring apple trees by going to the orchard and toasting them with mulled cider.
As a result, the trees would obviously feel all proud and happy and yield a
bumper crop in the coming year.
1½ ltr dry cider (and for my American
readers I mean the alcoholic type) divided into two halves
125g soft light brown sugar
12 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
about 2cm fresh root ginger- sliced
1 orange – sliced
1 apple – sliced
125g soft light brown sugar
12 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
about 2cm fresh root ginger- sliced
1 orange – sliced
1 apple – sliced
a little rum, brandy or, best of all, Calvados – optional
~ Pour half the cider into a large pot and add
the rest of the ingredients except the
rum.
~ Simmer together gently for about half an hour.
~ Add the rest of the cider, taste and add a little more sugar if necessary, if you do then simmer a few mins to dissolve it.
~ Ladle into glasses to which you may, or may not, have added a tot of spirit.
~ Simmer together gently for about half an hour.
~ Add the rest of the cider, taste and add a little more sugar if necessary, if you do then simmer a few mins to dissolve it.
~ Ladle into glasses to which you may, or may not, have added a tot of spirit.
Moose Milk
Not the ice cream based drink, obviously, as that probably
wouldn’t work hot! This is a surprisingly delicious and very easy hot moose milk!
Irish (or other Nationality) Coffee
As illustrated on the
cover of my stunningly good (IMHO – but its worth a
look!) Christmas cookbook.
30ml of your
preferred delicious spirit or liqueur
1 teaspoon sugar
a cupful of hot strong black coffee
60ml/2 fl oz double cream
1 teaspoon sugar
a cupful of hot strong black coffee
60ml/2 fl oz double cream
~ Warm a generous
wine glass in warm water (this is to stop it cracking with the heat of the
coffee) and put a teaspoon in it – so is this!
~ Put the sugar and half the coffee in the glass and stir to dissolve the sugar.
~ Stir in the alcohol and then add enough coffee to come to about 1cm/½” below the top of the glass.
~ Stir then slowly pour the cream over the back of a teaspoon onto the surface of the coffee where it should float.
~ Put the sugar and half the coffee in the glass and stir to dissolve the sugar.
~ Stir in the alcohol and then add enough coffee to come to about 1cm/½” below the top of the glass.
~ Stir then slowly pour the cream over the back of a teaspoon onto the surface of the coffee where it should float.
If you are a black coffee drinker, then this might be more
to your taste …
Ponce Livornese
This is from Tuscany; Livorno in Tuscany to be precise.
2 teaspoons of sugar
30ml rum or brandy
a twist of lemon peel
30ml espresso or strong black coffee
30ml rum or brandy
a twist of lemon peel
30ml espresso or strong black coffee
~ Put the sugar,
spirit and lemon peel in a heat proof glass and muddle them together with a
teaspoon to merge the flavours.
~ Add the coffee and stir to dissolve the sugar.
~ Serve immediately.
~ Add the coffee and stir to dissolve the sugar.
~ Serve immediately.
2 comments:
I love Mulled Wine. Cold season is approaching for sure. We moved to Hawaii last year around this time and I thought...no one catches colds in Hawai. Hmmmm....yes, they do. lol
Uh-oh - get well soon!
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