Raisin Wine Recipe

Cinco de Mayo: Sangria Recipe ... It's Not Mexican Independence Day

According to Amanti Vino, there are 10 reservations still available. Call Amanti Vino to reserve at 973-509-9463.   

If you’re planning on staying home to cook up some Mexican fare, CulinAriane was kind enough to share their Mole recipe with us:

Mole

34 ancho and pasilla chiles, toasted and seeded

4 Tb peppercorn

12 inch cinnamon stick

16 cloves

3 cups raisin

1 plantain

2 cups almonds, toasted

2 cups sesame seeds, toasted

2 onions

1 Tb lard or vegetable oil

 3-4 cup chicken stock

4 oz semi sweet chocolate

Toast and seed the chiles. Rehydrate them in hot water. Pulverize the peppercorn, cinnamon and cloves in a spice grinder. Puree the chiles, raisin, plantain, onions and both nuts in a food processor. Add the spices and puree for 30 more seconds. This can be stored in the refrigerator for one week, or frozen for three months.

To finish the sauce, heat the oil in sauce pot. Add 1 c of mole base and fry until aroma, about 2 minutes.  Add enough chicken stock slowly, until sauce thickens, incorporating it well before adding more. You will add about 3-4 cups of stock. Reduce until sauce consistency or it covers the back of a spoon. Add the chocolate and stir to melt. Serve over chicken or rice.

Obviously you’ll need appropriate libation to accompany the mole. Over the years I’ve acquired an aversion to tequila, so you won’t be getting any Margarita recipes from me. In the alternative, I offer my very own recipe for Purple Pomegranate Sangria. 

Give it a try, here’s the recipe:

1 cup simple syrup (1 cup water, 1 cup granulated sugar)*

1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine, Rioja if available, otherwise any cheap jug wine will suffice **

1 bottle Pomegranate Juice (8 0z.)

1 cup orange juice

¾ cup blackberry brandy

¾ cup triple sec

Orange slices, lemon slices, cubed apples, blueberries, grapes.

*In a small pot, combine 1 cup of sugar and one cup of water. Bring to boiling point until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.  Combine remaining liquids in a pitcher. Cover and refrigerate, if possible overnight.  When ready to serve, float fruit in pitcher. Do not put ice in pitcher, as it will dilute the Sangria.

Flavors of Brazil: RECIPE - Wild boar Spadaccino (Javali Spadiccino)

This surprising recipe for wild boar in a red wine and bitter chocolate sauce is adapted from one created in the kitchens of well-known São Paulo restaurant Spadiccino . The restaurant invented the dish last year in  homage to the Tuscan setting of a wildly popular Brazilian telenovela (nightly TV soap opera) Passione . Spadaccino's dish, which was inspired by a traditional Tuscan preparation for wild boar, substituted file mignon for the boar. The recipe below is closer to the original as it replaces the milder beef with the stronger flavors of wild boar. Flavors of Brazil feels that the subtle taste of lean beef just isn't assertive enough to stand up to the flavors of bitter chocolate and a big red wine. Wild boar is up to the task however, and can hold its own in this dish. Remove the rosemary from the reserved marinade and discard. Heat the remaining marinade, including the diced vegetables and the raisins, in a large heavy saucepan, then add the browned meat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and continue to cook the meat with the pan partly covered at a slow boil. From time to time add a small amount of additional red wine if required to keep the sauce from drying out. Cook for approximately 45 minutes, or until the meat is very tender.

Cuisine and Culture, A History of Food and People

Annals of the caliphs' kitchens, Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq's tenth-century Baghdadi cookbook

The fruit of the vine, viticulture in ancient Israel

Cooking in ancient civilizations

The bazaar, exchange and mart, and journal of the household