Blood Orange Mulled Red Wine with Spiced Brown Butter

Blood Orange Mulled Red Wine

HI GUYS. I am terrible. I left y'all high + dry. But but but but, I can explain. See last week the world ended. What? You guys didn't hear? That's shocking, I know, but so true. Well, if you didn't hear, I'll give you the quick rundown of how it snowed two inches in Atlanta and the whole city shut down. I'm not making this up. Luckily for me, I work from home, so I really didn't experience anything too badly. Actually, we were quite excited at first...

the beginning of snow fall

yep, it snows in the south

starting to cover the ground

shots at 5AM in honor of the "state of emergency" 

snow day with my little pup.

See? We welcomed the snow, with open arms. I was tooooo excited, I hadn't seen snow since probably my middle school days. It started innocently enough, but then I got a phone call from my Mountain Man around noon, saying that he got released from work early due to the possible inclement weather. I was TOTES excited. However, I just waited and waited and waited... I watched the news. EVERY major highway, intersection, and street was practically shut down. Black ice was everywhere. Children were stuck at school, or worse, in school buses. Finally 9PM had rolled around I had yet to see my Mountain Man because he had been stranded for over eight hours. In the same spot. I mean it couldn't get any worse. I was stranded at home and couldn't possibly rescue him. It got so crazy, he and one of his friends, abandoned their cars and walked about 7 miles in the sleeting snow back to our house. I can't even tell you how crazy it all was, and it was all over a pathetic two inches of snow. People had to sleep in grocery stores, hospitals, gas stations, and even their frozen cars. It was just straight up ridiculous. By 10 o'clock, the Governor officially called a "State of Emergency" and cancelled all non-essential work/travel for two days. If you guys watch The Walking Dead, this is really how Atlanta looked. No joke. We had no food, or barely any at all, so we ate a lot of potatoes and leftover roasted chicken. Not fun. We did, however, have a lot of red wine... and blood oranges. So, I decided that I would try my hand at making mulled red wine. This classic winter cocktail never really gets enjoyed here because well it's always so-dang-hot and DEFINITELY not snowing. It was the perfect occasion. The flavor was boosted with those gorgeous red citrus fruit, fresh ginger, mulling spices, apple, a-whole-lotta-booze, simple syrup, and a homemade spiced brown butter. The brown butter/compound butter is perfect for any fall drink, but especially anything mulled or it would be fab in a hot buttered rum too! This was the bomb to drink while the snow kept collecting on the ground... and it warmed my Mountain Man up real fast. So all of y'all that are still cold up in the Northern states can enjoy it as well!! Enjoy :)

juicing the blood oranges.

winter citrus art.

gorgeous blood orange slices in mulled wine

a generous slice of homemade spiced brown butter

ready to drink!

For the Spiced Brown Butter:

2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter, Browned & Softened

2C Homemade Dark Brown Sugar (or store-bought can be used)

1 ½t Cinnamon

1t Fleur de Sel

½t Freshly Grated Nutmeg, Bourbon Smoked Paprika, & Ground Ginger

¼t Cardamom, Cayenne, & Black Pepper

For the Mulled Red Wine:

2 Bottles of Red Wine

4 Blood Oranges, Zests Peeled & Sliced

1 Apple, Sliced

1 Inch Knob of Fresh Ginger (peeled)

2 Cinnamon Sticks

¼C Mulling Spices

2 Star Anise Pods

1C Homemade Mulled Simple Syrup

1 Vanilla Bean Pod, Split & Scraped for Seeds

½C Brandy, Bourbon, & Apple Jack

Nutmeg, For Grating

Homemade Spiced Brown Butter, For Serving

Directions:

1. For the Spiced Brown Butter: Cream together the butter, spices and sugar. At this point you can roll up the mixture with parchment into a log. Cover well and refrigerate or freeze for later use. In the fridge the mixture will keep for two weeks, in the freezer a couple of months.

2. For the Mulled Red Wine:Peel the zests off the blood oranges, and then cut up one of the oranges into slices and juice the remaining three. Throw them into the pot, along with the sliced apple, cinnamon sticks, mulling spices, star anise pods, mulled simple syrup, vanilla bean pod, and fresh ginger. Let this mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the wine and bring back to a simmer, about another 5-10 minutes. Turn the heat off the burner and toss in the brandy, bourbon, and Apple Jack. Stir to combine.

3. For Serving:In a mug, add a tablespoon of the spiced brown butter. Top with a few ladles of blood orange mulled red wine. Grate some fresh nutmeg over the top and serve with a cinnamon stick for stirring. The ratio of the ingredients is really preference.

Thanksgiving Leftovers "Chicken & Waffles" with Pecan Crusted Turkey Tenderloins, Cornbread Dressing Waffles, Vanilla Bean-Pecan Butter, Brandied Cranberry-Maple Syrup, & Brown Butter Fried Sage

Thanksgiving Leftovers "Chicken & Waffles" with Pecan Crusted Turkey Tenderloins,
Cornbread Dressing Waffles, Vanilla Bean-Pecan Butter, Brandied Cranberry-Maple
Syrup, & Brown Butter Fried Sage

Well, our first Friendsgiving dinner has come and gone, and I'm pretty sad about it. It was a lot of fun, and we had wayyyyyy too much to eat. But, there's always, always, always room for leftovers. And yeah, I know there are some Thanksgiving Leftover Purists out there who just want a plain old sandwich. But not me, I try to come up with something crazy & different every year. Just a couple weeks ago I made a tartine, and that was delicious, but I knew this time, I had to make something bigger + better. I couldn't help but think of wanting to make one of our favorite meals, chicken & waffles, into a leftover extravaganza. I started with my favorite buttermilk waffle recipe and then added in some of our cornbread dressing to turn them into these bread pudding-like crispy waffle cakes. Seriously, it has an outrageous texture and taste on its' own, but then you top them with some pecan crusted tenderloins that have been fried to perfection, a few tabs of a homemade vanilla bean-pecan butter, a healthy drizzle of brandied cranberry-maple syrup, and brown butter fried sage... and well, my friends, you are certainly in Thanksgiving Heaven (I'm pretty sure that's a real place, don't worry). It was the perfect brunch this morning, but honestly, I could go for these "chicken & waffles" at any time during the day. And you should too!! Enjoy :)

For the Pecan Crusted Turkey Tenderloins

6 Turkey Tenderloins (or chicken can be substituted, as well as pork)

1C Toasted Pecan Pieces (ground into a pecan meal)

2C AP Flour

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

1C Buttermilk, Well-Shaken

3 Eggs, Beaten

1T Hot Sauce

Vegetable Oil, For Frying

For the Cornbread Dressing Waffles:

¾C AP Flour

¼C Cornstarch

½t Baking Powder & Sea Salt

¼t Baking Soda

½C Buttermilk

½C Milk

1/3C Vegetable Oil

1 Egg

2t Sugar

½t Vanilla

1 ½C Leftover Cornbread Dressing or Stuffing

For the Vanilla Bean-Pecan Butter:

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Softened

¼C Toasted Pecans, Finely Chopped

1t Sugar

¼C Vanilla Extract

For the Brandied Cranberry-Maple Syrup:

½C Leftover Cranberry Sauce

½C Maple Syrup

¼C Brandy

Salt, To Taste

For the Thanksgiving Leftover Chicken & Waffles:

Pecan Crusted Turkey Tenderloins, Fried until Golden Brown & Crispy

Prepared Cornbread Dressing Waffles, Cooked & Warm

Prepared Vanilla Bean-Pecan Butter, Cut into Tabs

Brandied Cranberry-Maple Syrup, Warmed

Brown Butter Fried Sage, For Garnishing

Directions:

1. For the Pecan Crusted Turkey Tenderloins: Heat the oil, over medium-high heat, in a large cast iron skillet. In food processor, finely ground the pecans. Combine the pecans with the flour. Season the flour and tenderloins with salt & pepper to your liking. Whisk the eggs with the buttermilk and hot sauce. Dredge the turkey tenderloins in the pecan flour, coating each piece completely. Dip the chicken in the buttermilk egg wash, coating completely and letting the excess drip off.  Dredge them again in the pecan flour. Fry the turkey for roughly 6-8 minutes or until there is no longer any pink in the meat. The outside should be golden brown and crispy. Drain the fried turkey on a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt & pepper. Keep these warm until you are ready to serve.

2. For the Cornbread Dressing Waffles: In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk together to blend. In another mixing bowl, beat together the whole milk, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and whisk just until incorporated and few lumps remain. Add in your leftover dressing or stuffing and mix to combine. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes. Preheat a waffle iron. Fill waffle wells and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The waffles should be crisp and golden brown. Keep them warm until you are ready to serve.

3. For the Vanilla Bean-Pecan Compound Butter: In a mixing bowl, mash and smooth out the butter with a fork. Add in the vanilla bean seeds, toasted pecans, sugar, and vanilla extract and mix until it is smooth, making sure that all of the component are mixture thoroughly and distributed throughout. Keep it at room temperature or refrigerate until you are ready to spread it onto your waffles.

4. For the Brandied Cranberry-Maple Syrup: Heat the leftover cranberry sauce and maple syrup over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the brandy and some salt to taste, and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the brandy infuses into the syrup and it thickens slightly. Keep warm until ready to serve.

5. To Assemble the Turkey & Waffles: Place two cornbread dressing waffles in the center of your plate and spread with the softened vanilla bean-pecan butter. Top the waffle with another tab of the butter and the crispy pecan crusted turkey tenderloins. Pour the brandied cranberry-maple syrup all over your plate and garnish with brown butter fried sage leaves. Enjoy it while it’s still warm!

Christmas Cranberry Sangria

I've got to keep this short & sweet since it's Christmas Eve n' all!! Happy holidays to everyone out there, and I hope that you are having a blast with your family and friends. We're actually enjoying this drink right now as I type and it really is just perfect for a Christmas party or a family meal. It's easy to make and definitely easy to slurp down!! Enjoy :)

Christmas Cranberry Sangria with Vanilla Bean

For the Sangria:

1 Large Orange, Sliced

1 Large Apple, Chopped

1 Large Pear, Chopped

12oz Bag of Fresh Cranberries

2 Cinnamon Sticks

2 Vanilla Beans

1 ½C Bottles of Red Wine

2C of Sparkling Cranberry Soda

½C Brandy

½C Sugar

1T Vanilla

Directions:

1. Add orange slices, apples, pears, cinnamon sticks and cranberries to the bottom of a big pitcher. Pour wine, cranberry soda, brandy, sugar and vanilla extract over top. Scrape vanilla beans out of their pods and add to the mix. Then throw the entire empty vanilla beans in. Mix with a giant spoon to really combine everything.
2. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour before serving. Taste to determine if you’d like more sugar, and if so – add it! Spoon some of the fruit into glasses before pouring, then add ice and sangria on top. 

source: winter sangria.