An update from my post yesterday (now deleted) … we had some friends over last night for a mid-winter dinner. It was terrible weather here so nice to be inside and warm and cosy!

I’ve also just noticed who snuck into the photo at the far end of the table. Funny little fellow.

I went for a dinner with lots of foraging-type flavours – mushrooms, spices, berries, cherries, port, pheasant, cloves etc. We started off with mulled wine. It’s a fairly boring process to take photos of! But here’s the recipe:

Mulled Wine

3 litres red wine (cask is fine, you’re going to make it delicious!)
12 whole cloves
6 Tbsp brandy
1 tsp ground nutmeg
juice of 2 oranges
75g sugar (about 6 Tbsp)
3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half (crosswise)

Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat gently for 15 minutes.

You want to get the wine sitting just below a simmer. Don’t let it boil or the delicate flavours will be lost. Once it’s been heating for about 15 minutes, turn the heat off but leave the saucepan sitting on the warm element. Leave the wine to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain it and then gently reheat it just before serving.

I didn’t take any pictures of the finished product … but basically it looks like red wine! You can also serve it with a piece of orange studded with cloves in the glass – slice an orange, and cut one of the round slices into 6 wedges. Push one or two whole cloves into the peel and pop the wedge into the glass.

Here’s the rest of the menu for our dinner … I’ll post some of the recipes over the next few days.

Mid Winter Dinner

Pumpkin & Pastrami Tartlet
Baked Brie Portabello Mushrooms
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Roasted Free Range Pheasant with Balsamic & Morello Cherries
roast potatoes
baby carrots
minted broad bean mash
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Dark Chocolate & Orange Molten Cakes
with orange and apricot coulis
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