Mulled Port Wine Jelly

* Exported from MasterCook *

Mulled Port Wine Jelly

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Canning Condiments
Jam/Jelly Mc

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 Unblemished medium size -- eating orange
8 Whole cloves
1 Approx. 2 1/2" cinnamon -- stick; broken
6 Whole allspice -- - slightly bruised
1 1/2 cups -- Boiling water
1 3/4 ounces Box powdered regular pectin*
2 1/2 cups Good-quality red port**
4 1/2 cups Sugar

*Do not use the kind intended for low-sugar preserving.

**Or substitute Madeira, Marsala or a full-flavored red table wine.
(I used port.)
This is a two-stage recipe. One day (or at least several hours) before
you'll make the jelly, rinse the orange and stick the cloves into it. Wrap
the orange loosely in aluminum foil and bake it, set directly on the shelf,
in a 350 F. oven for 1 hour. Open the wrapping and check the orange; if it
is very soft and the juices have begun to caramelize inside the foil
wrapping, it is ready; otherwise continue to bake it until it is soft and
the juices in the wrapping are turning a rich brown.

Unwrap the orange and drop it into a deep bowl. Add the cinnamon and
allspice and mash everything together. Pour in the boiling water, cover the
bowl and let it stand overnight.

Pour the mixture into a sieve set over a bowl and press the solids to
strain off as much liquid as possible. Discard pulp and strain the liquid
again, this time lining the sieve with cheesecloth. Measure the liquid; if
you don't have 1 1/2 cups, add water.

Pour the liquid into a preserving pan. Add pectin and stir to eliminate
lumps. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a boil,
stirring constantly. Boil it hard (at a boil that can't be stirred down)
for exactly 1 minute. At once add the wine and sugar. Lower the heat and
stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved, 2 or 3 minutes; it should
not simmer, much less boil.
Remove from heat.

Skim off any foam and ladle the jelly into hot, sterilized jelly glasses or
straight-sided half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/2" of headspace in the
glasses or 1/8" in the jars. Seal the jelly in glasses with melted paraffin;
seal canning jars with sterilized canning lids according to manufacturer's
directions. Cool, label and store the jars.

If the jelly will be used within a few months, it may be refrigerated
unsealed but covered. Keeps, sealed, for a year in a cool pantry.

Yield: About 6 cups.

Witty writes: "Flavored with an orange that has been stuck with cloves and
roasted, plus a touch of whole cinnamon and allspice, this is a rich, deep,
dark-flavored wine jelly, superb as a relish with venison, other game,
poultry, or cold meat.

"For making this, a premium-quality California red port is fine; you do not
need to invest in an imported bottle. Mulled wine jelly is also very good
when made with a full-bodied red wine - Rhone, Burgundy, Zinfandel, whatever
you like the most."
From _Fancy Pantry_ by Helen Witty. New York: Workman Publishing Company,
Inc., 1986. ISBN 0-89480-037-X. Pp. 136-37. Electronic form

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