A waft of beautiful cinnamon hominess was tickling my nose when I entered our restaurant the other day. I realized punch was heating up in a caldron behind the bar. We had discussed holiday drinks earlier in the week and there were the results floating in the air. Greenmarket apple cider gently heated and infused with fragrant spices – perfect for this time of the year adding up to a beautiful holiday mood with the decorations of pine cones and snowflakes in the window. Inspired by the pine scent and the cold weather, we started a series of different holiday hot punches and infused pine cones into red wine. We begin with a basic recipe from Mid-Europe which is called Glühwein in German speaking countries or Glögg in Northern Europe which translates to mulled wine.
European holiday punch – Winter Sangria!
This kind of punch is commonly infused with a palate of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, mace, cardamom and such. Oranges and lemons add a lovely acidic tang to the punch and brighten the flavor up. If you’d like you keep the temperature around 150 degrees Fahrenheit which doesn’t boil the alcohol off and hence makes your party a real happy one. “Virgin” punch is good too and can be prepared with grape juice. For a more woodsy punch infuse with tree cones - -it balances perfectly with the citrusy, aromatic Glühwein. After all it’s really not novel putting the flavor of wood in red wine … think of wine stored in oak barrels, this is a warm version of it and instead of oak we use pine (but if you have some oak casks at home be my guest!).
(fragrant mulled wine with spices)
Austrian Red wine punch
(plenty for 4 mugs)
1 orange, halved
1 lemon, halved
8 cups red wine such as Chianti
1 cinnamon stick
1 nutmeg
2 cloves
1 cardamom, crushed
½ cup brown sugar
1. Rinse orange and lemon with hot water and scrub clean
2. Combine all ingredients in a pot then heat on low heat setting (35 minutes)
3. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into mugs
(apple cider bottles - right now at the farmers market)
“Big Apple” New York Punch
Hudson Valley -- close to New York City -- grows beautiful apples so we’ve been concocting a fragrant mixture of apple punch which includes some peppercorns for a
“peppery” flavor note, and a bit of honey keeps it wholesome.
Apple Punch
(plenty for 4 mugs)
1 orange, halved
1 lemon, halved
8 cups apple cider
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 star anis
10 black pepper corns
1 tablespoon honey such as clover honey
1. Rinse orange and lemon with hot water and scrub clean
2. Combine all ingredients in a pot then heat on low heat setting (35 minutes)
3. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into mugs
(pear punch with cardamom and cinnamon)
Chef’s note: I find apple punch particularly pleasant with a shot of heart-warming brandy.
Chef’s tip: substitute apple juice with pear cider
