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Michael Smith's Mulled Apple Cider:

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 liters of fresh cider
  • 1 orange
  • 24 cloves
  • 4 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 2 branches of rosemary
  • 8 star anise pods (or 2 tsp. ground star anise)
  • 1 bottle of Chardonnay or Apple wine

Place the sugar and water in a medium sized sauce, large enough to hold the cider and wine. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and continue simmering as it forms syrup and the water boils away. Do not stir or shake the pot. When the syrup begins to brown gently swirl the pot until the caramel is a deep golden brown. Working quickly and carefully, add the cider to "shock" the caramel and prevent it from burning. It will splatter, so be careful! Bring the entire mixture to a simmer. Spike the orange with the cloves and add to the cider. Add the remaining ingredients and continue simmering for about 30 minutes until the cider reduces by about a third. Add the wine, bring the mixture back to the simmer and serve immediately in a festive mug. Garnish each serving with a rosemary sprig.

Other browning tips from Michael:

  • When roasting meats, start the temperature high to brown the outside of the meat, then turn it lower to finish the roasting. For example, you might start a beef roast at 400F for the first 20-30 minutes, then lower to 350F for the rest of the cooking.
  • Searing a meat does NOT seal in the juices. Make sure you let your meat rest before carving it. Tent it loosely with foil to keep it warm. The temperature of the meat will actually keep rising for a few minutes when you take it out of the oven, so gauge your doneness with that in mind.
  • NEVER stir the pot while you are making caramel. If the sugar gets up onto the sides of the pot, it may re-crystallize and ruin the entire batch.
  • When browning butter, let it come to a foam twice. The first foam indicates the water content of the butter boiling off. The second foam means the milk solids are starting to toast and then you can take it off the heat when you achieve the desired brown-ness. Leftover browned butter can be stored in a covered glass jar indefinitely. During the seminar Michael used the browned butter to flavour mashed potatoes.

Michael Smith © 2003