Hot Spiced Wine

This is a recipe I forgot to share from our party, oh four months ago. I didn't get any good photos of it and I wasn't even sure how much people actually liked it. Perhaps they just drank it because it was there and had alcohol in it? But later someone told me they had tried to recreate it at a different holiday party, so it must not have been that bad. And having a food blog, aren't I sort of obligated to share the recipes I make up that turn out at least halfway decent? In lieu of an absent photo of my apparently spectacular mulled wine, I will share the most fabulous white elephant gift ever: a wine decanter with five wine glasses (the sixth must have broken) with an etching of a clipper ship on them all. Megan's boyfriend Eric told me he thought they were tacky. I think they're fan-tastic. The decanter is displayed on the mantle and the wine glasses are tucked in our gun-rack-turned-display case (thank you gay landlords!).

OK, back to what you really came here for, a recipe for (and story about) boozed up spiced wine.

The inspiration for the spiced wine is thanks to Il Spazio and Krista. The restaurant/brewery opened up in Kirksville, Mo., sometime around my junior year of college. And on several occasions, my roommate Krista would come home raving about "fuerte" beer, but the best by far was the seasonal hot spiced wine. Kirksville was in a part of Missouri that is the recipient of a lot of wind and our apartment that year was effing freezing (we paid $500 one month for gas and we weren't even warm), so hot spiced wine seemed like the only respite in a long, dark and very cold winter.

This past December seems like ages ago now that it's 70 degrees outside, but dang it was cold and I was determined to make this hot mulled wine. I borrowed my mom's giant crockpot and blew like $150 on food an accoutrements--even though I bought the cheapest wine that Wohlner's stocks. That was a mistake first of all because the wine was (obviously) not that great, and secondly because as I was bringing the groceries up to my apartment I bumped the sack on the stairs and one of the wine bottles crunched into a million pieces with red wine dripping all down the stairs. Thankfully this happened outside.

Things turned out all right in the end. I was right in thinking even bad wine could be improved with sugar, amaretto and apple cider. And even though the counter was covered in sticky grime from spilled "punch," the wine was gone and someone asked for the recipe. So here it is. The only thing I would change would be buying nicer wine--but not too nice. (Jesse, perhaps you can make a recommendation here?)

Hot Spiced Wine: 2 750-milliliter bottles of red wine (Burgundy is usually recommended) 1 cup amaretto liqueur (brandy would be a good choice here, I just happen to be the sort of person that has amaretto hanging around the house) a lot of apple cider (if you're actually measuring I would guess it to be about 5 cups) 1 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon mulling spices (these include black peppercorns, orange peel, cloves, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, star anise and allspice--I saved about $100 by buying them in a container labled "mulling spices") In a crockpot on high heat, pour wine, amaretto and cider. Dump in the sugar. Stir until sugar is mostly dissolved. Place whole mulling spices into a cheesecloth or one of those metal tea balls. Allow 30 minutes for wine to heat up. Turn crockpot down to medium and serve. If you're fancy, garnish with whole cinnamon sticks.

Roasted Tomato and Bean Dip

It's a good thing we made so much food last week because the only thing I've cooked this week is an egg over easy. You could blame a few things, 1.) we overdid it last week and are now sick of cooking, 2.) our kitchen and the sun room in particular has suddenly become ridiculously frigid, or 3.) our pipes froze/burst. It's likely a combination of all three. I came home from work on Monday and no water would come out of the kitchen tap. Whatever. But when I woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water and nothing came out of the bathroom tap, it registered as a problem. I had to drive across town to take a shower at my parents' (it took 45 minutes to get there with the weather). Fortunately, our landlords are awesome, and Bob was surveying the damage at 8 a.m. (apparently a pipe burst in the basement and the plumber had to take down part of our downstairs neighbor's wall--whoops). It's funny, these random blips happen so frequently that I sort of just shrug my shoulders and say, "meh." But if you're someone who is fortunate enough to have running water and a food processor, you should give this dip a try. It's another Giada (am I going to get into trouble for posting too many of her recipes?). I make it all the time for parties and gatherings and the like. It's sort of like hummus but tangier. Disclaimer: this is not a scary bean dip. My mom hates beans (some sort of aversion carried over from childhood), yet she likes this dip--a lot.

Tomato and Bean Dip:
1 clove garlic
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
salt and pepper (to taste)
1/4 cup olive oil (I use the oil from the jar of roasted tomatoes)
1/4 cup roasted, oil packed tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon dry basil
1 tablespoon dry parsley

Blend the clove of garlic in the the food processor. Add beans, lemon juice and water and blend until the mixture is relatively smooth. Add salt and pepper (Giada recommends about a teaspoon of each). Blend in olive oil a bit at a time until the mixture is completely smooth. (I don't actually measure the olive oil, and I suspect I use less than 1/4 of a cup). Add the tomatoes and herbs, mix again. Serve with pita chips or on crusty bread.

Party Favorite - Sour Cream and Onion Dip

Will she kill me for posting this photo? We've been friends since we were (I don't know) 15 or 16, if we can make it through high school, we can make it through anything right? Fortunately, she doesn't have Internet, and she does have a good sense of humor, and seriously, who else could grin like that while eating and still look that good? Here's a better photo of two Katies and an Adam partaking of the goods available at our party. I meant to take photos that didn't make our party look so lame, except that I kept leaving my camera/phone/drink in random places throughout the house (a good sign that the party wasn't lame, right?). Rachel asked what I thought the best thing we served was. I knew she was fishing for the right answer. It was (in my mind and Rachel wholeheartedly agreed) without a doubt the sour cream and onion dip. I followed a recipe on 101 Cookbooks and I admit being completely skeptical that it would come out alright. There was hardly any salt in the recipe, surely something in abundance in those sachets of french onion dip you get at the store. But dios mio, this dip was a-maz-ing. And too easy (another reason why I was nervous about its quality). The only thing easier than this would be, well, buying a packet of french onion dip, but that's no fun. Eric and I were scooping out the remnants of the dip at 2-something in the morning while subtely hinting that a few stragglers might want to wrap up their heated, existential convo. This dip was made to go on the latkes, as pictured above. Sour Cream and Onion Dip: (You can just as easily click through to 101 Cookbooks, a superb food blog, I'm recording the recipe here for my collection) olive or vegetable oil onion, chopped onion powder dash of salt sour cream All of the ingredients are measured to taste. I almost always go light on the onions, just a personal preference. So I used about a quarter of a white onion for about a regular-sized tub of sour cream. I applied the oil liberally and sauteed the onions for 30-40 minutes (you do not have to stand right over the stove for 30 minutes for this, medium heat will take care of it), until they were carmelized (and sort of burnt-looking, as you can see above). I added maybe a teaspoon of salt and, errr, about a tablespoon of onion powder to the sour cream. Mixed it. And then added the onions and served it.

Potato Latkes or I Try To Be Kosher

Sometimes I wish I was Jewish. For whatever reason, I find the religion and culture fascinating. And maybe it's the fact that I couldn't ever really be Jewish that makes me want it even more. However, I can still cook, eat and enjoy Jewish food. The holidays are in full swing at our apartment. We're having a party on Friday night, so I spent my random day off on Monday decorating and cooking. Latkes are a completely new thing for me to make because 1.) it's not Italian, 2.) I rarely cook with potatoes and 3.) I have never, ever trully fried anything. I bought a frying/candy thermometer at the store because the recipe called for it. Turns out I totally could have done without it, which is a good thing because as I was removing the thermometer from the skillet I burned my fingers and dropped/threw the thermometer on the counter where it bounced of and shattered on the floor. Turns out frying is a lot less scary than I imagined it would be (except for grabbing the thermometer). The draw of this hors d'oeuvre is that it can be reheated just before guests arrive.

Potato Latkes: (adapted from Gourmet) 1/2 medium onion 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled (about 6) 2 teaspoons lemon juice (to prevent browning) 1/3 cup flour salt and pepper 3 eggs, whisked 1 cup vegetable oil You can shred the potatoes and onions in a food processor or (as I did) with a cheese grater. Grate/shred the onion. Mix potatoes and onion together. Toss with lemon juice. In a separate bowl mix flour, about 2 teapspoons of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Add to potato/onion mixture and toss to mix. Add whisked eggs and stir to coat.

Add oil to heavy skillet and heat to 360 degrees on the stovetop. Add a heaping spoonful of the potatoes to the oil. Use a fork to flatten to 3- or 4-inch pancakes. Cook until golden brown on each side (take 2-3 minutes each). Transfer to paper towel lined baking tray.

Apparently, latkes can be frozen for up to two weeks. Reheat in an oven at 450 degrees for five minutes. Served with sour cream (recipe to follow later this week).