Fallen Souffle

I am so excited to be taking part in my first Blog Party hosted by the lovely Stephanie over at Dispensing Happiness.

So the theme is Red and Hot. Hmm…a drink and appetizer that is both red and hot. For the drink, I immediately thought Bloody Mary, but I decided to think out of the box. Therefore I came up with a mulled wine. See..it’s hot (literally) and it uses red wine. So it looks kind purple but it’s pretty close. This recipe is pretty sweet so if you aren’t keen on sweet wines omit the brown sugar or use something like cranberry juice instead of pineapple.

This is great for parties or make a whole batch and keep it in the fridge and reheat as you wish.

Mulled Wine

1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups pineapple juice
1 cup orange juice
6 whole cloves
3 whole allspice berries
2 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups red wine
2 oranges
8 cinnamon sticks, garnish

1. In a large non-aluminum saucepan, combine water, brown sugar, pineapple juice, and orange juice. Season with cloves, allspice, 2 cinnamon sticks and salt. Cut the rind of 2 oranges into strips and stir into the mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

2. Pour in the wine. Heat to just boiling and remove from heat. Serve hot with a cinnamon stick for garnish.

For the appetizer, I looked to an old favorite…roasted red pepper hummus. It’s quick and easy to put together and most of the ingredients are probably in your pantry already. Hummus is great because you can put any extra flavors in it, my sister likes plain garlic while my Mom and I love the red peppers. I also add hot sauce to give it a little kick! This is so cheap to make, it’s a pity that people pay for it in the deli. Hummus is also very healthy, just add some toasted pita chips and you are set for a party of a quick snack. It also can be used as a sandwich spread.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can chick peas
3 tablespoons tahini
juice of a lemon
1 tablespoon minced garlic (or more)
2 whole roasted red peppers
1 teaspoon of salt
hot sauce, however much you like!

1. Drain chick peas but reserve juice. In a food processor, dump in the rest of the ingredients and pulse until smooth. Add liquid as necessary to smooth out the consistency.

2. Chill or serve at room temperature.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 15th, 2006 at 7:05 pm and is filed under Snacks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.