Mulled port wine jelly

 
                           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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