The name of the game today is festive spice, what would Christmas be without loads of cinnamon and cloves? We shudder to think.
So there’s a warming Christmas drink, a spiced chutney and a delicious red cabbage dish to try (the cabbage goes fantastically well with roast duck, if you ask me). Enjoy!
Winter Warmer Drink
Ingredients
8 cinnamon sticks
8 bay leaves
4 star anise
20 cardamom pods
20 cloves
1lt cranberry juice
1lt orange juice
800g sugar
5 fresh oranges
3 fresh lemons
Method
Zest the oranges and lemons, slice and place into a bowl. Mix all the other ingredients together and leave to infuse.
Christmas day
Place the winter warmer mixture into a pan and dilute with either water or red wine (or both) to taste. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat, serve warm.
Spiced cranberry chutney
Ingredients
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
225g cranberries
1tbsp freshly grated root ginger
½ red onion
175g Demerara sugar
1 Grated zest and juice of an orange
200ml red wine vinegar
Method
Place all the ingredients into a pan and bring up to simmering point and stir well. Continue simmering for about 45 minutes or until you can draw a wooden spoon across the surface and leave a trail that doesn’t fill up with the vinegar. Don’t forget, it will thicken as it cools, so don’t let it get too thick. Pour into a sterilised container and seal.
Red cabbage with apples and sultanas
Method
35g unsalted butter
2no onions finely chopped
50g sultanas
2 cloves of garlic
1 red cabbage shredded
1tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
1/4tsp ground cloves
3tbsp dark brown sugar
3tbsp cider vinegar
2 bramley apples cored and cut into chunks
1 oranges zested and juiced
23rd December
Preheat the oven to 150c, melt the butter in a large oven dish and cook the onion and sultanas for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions have started to colour. Add the remaining ingredients, except the apples and orange zest, cover with a tight fitting lid. Place the oven dish into the oven and cook for 1 ½ hours stirring at half hour intervals. Remove from the oven, stir in the orange zest and the apples, then cook for a further 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
Christmas day
Reheat in a sauce pan for 15 minutes season and serve.
