Mulled Pineapple Cocktail

It’s holiday time, the weather is nice and cool, and the book Winter Cocktails is fitting nicely into this state of affairs. As I started looking at my review copy of the book, I marked pages of each cocktail I wanted to try. Then, I realized I was just marking every single page. The Rosy Cheek is a Winter White Hot Chocolate made with steeped macadamia nuts, crushed pink peppercorns, and lemon juice for brightness. The Cup of Thai is warm coconut milk flavored with lemongrass, ginger, and lime peel and spiked with rum. The Nutella Melt is hot chocolate with Nutella melted into it and added hazelnut liqueur with a garnish of espresso-flavored whipped cream and chopped hazelnuts. There’s also Classic Eggnog, Pumpkin-Bourbon Eggnog, and Butterscotch Eggnog. I want to curl up on the couch and sip these concoctions one after the next. And, these options are just from the chapters for Hot Toddies and Mulled Drinks and Eggnog, Hot Chocolate, Coffee and Tea. There are also Punches and Pitchers and Chilled Winter Cocktails as well as a chapter for infused liquors and syrups and one for snacks to go with the cocktails. I couldn’t decide where to start with the hot chocolate and eggnog options, so first I opted for Liquid Gold: Pineapple Juice, Spiced and Spirited. 

I’d never thought of making a warm, mulled cocktail with pineapple juice, but I loved the idea. Tropical fruits are always a good antidote to cold weather, and it was unusually cold here. To start, fresh pineapple was cubed and seasoned with sugar, Aleppo pepper, cinnamon, and salt. Then, it was broiled for a few minutes per side until slightly caramelized. The pineapple was set aside until cool and then skewered on picks. For the drink itself, allspice berries, peppercorns, whole cloves, and cinnamon sticks were warmed in a saucepan before pineapple juice, rum, brandy, and a scraped vanilla bean and seeds were added. It was left to simmer for about 15 minutes before being poured through a sieve for serving. 

The mulled juice smelled as lovely while it simmered as it tasted in the mug. Warm spices with sweet pineapple juice mixed well with brandy and rum. And, the spiciness of the caramelized pineapple chunks was a good contrast to the sweet flavors. I served some toasted macadamia nuts with the cocktails and imagined a view of sand and surf and tall, swaying palm trees. Mele Kalikimaka! 

Liquid Gold 
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from Winter Cocktails.
 
serves 4 

Though it calls to mind a tropical setting, the pineapple is in fact a winter fruit. It is also an iconic symbol of hospitality. Warm your home and your friends with this mulled pineapple drink that showcases both its sweet and tart flavors. 

Pineapple Garnish 
12 or more (1⁄4-inch) cubes fresh pineapple 
1 tablespoon granulated sugar 
1⁄4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper* 
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1⁄8 teaspoon salt 

Mulled Pineapple Juice 
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries 
1 tablespoon black peppercorns 
1 tablespoon whole cloves 
2 cinnamon sticks 
4 cups pineapple juice 
6 ounces dark rum 
2 ounces brandy 
1 vanilla bean pod, split in half lengthwise, seeds scraped out 

*Piquant and vibrant, Aleppo is a type of crushed red pepper native to Syria. It is available at specialty markets. 

For the Pineapple Garnish: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange pineapple cubes in a single layer. Combine sugar, Aleppo pepper, ground cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle pineapple cubes with sugar mixture and toss to coat evenly. Rearrange pineapple in a single layer and broil until caramelized, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer tray to cooling rack. When cool enough to handle, skewer at least 3 pineapple cubes onto each of 4 short skewers or sturdy toothpicks (see page 156 for Sources). 

For the Mulled Pineapple Juice: Place allspice, peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add pineapple juice, rum, brandy, and vanilla bean and seeds and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard solids. To serve, place one pineapple skewer in each of 4 heat-proof cups. Ladle juice into cups. 

I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program.

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Hard Cider Sangria

What's better than a cocktail on Thanksgiving Day? A pitcher full of cocktails. Sangria is the perfect solution, and this one is well-suited to the season. I saw this in the October issue of Food and Wine. Since it’s lower in alcohol than some other cocktails, you can sip a glass or two while cooking all kinds of things and not lose track of your oven timing. It’s made with hard apple cider, apple juice, lemon juice, and a little brandy. You can slice the fruit and mix it with the brandy and juices in advance. Then, just add the hard cider right before serving.

I had some fun shopping for the ingredients for this sangria. I was testing the new Isis Mobile Wallet app. The app offers a new way of making point of sale payments with your mobile device. At the checkout, you just launch the app, wave your device in front of the machine where you usually slide your credit card, and the payment is made. Since the app requires near field communication (NFC) to function, you need to use it on a device with that capability. Currently, iPhones do not have NFC. I received a Samsung Galaxy III and a stipend to use Isis Mobile Wallet, and was happy to be able to use it at Whole Foods where I shop regularly. It’s reassuring to know the security features of the app. Not only is a PIN number required to launch the app, the SIM card in the device is also secure. If your mobile device were to fall into the wrong hands, the app couldn’t be used and your account couldn’t be accessed. There were a few hiccups in getting my account set up within the app, but once it was working, it was easy to use. Within the app, you can view a list of businesses that accept it as a form of payment. And, another interesting feature is that those businesses can offer special discounts and other offers within the app. There was a Whole Foods coupon available the first day I shopped with Isis. Unfortunately, neither the employee at the checkout nor I could figure out how to make the coupon work. I asked about how to use it at the customer service desk, and the employees there weren’t sure either since this is such a new service. But, they happily paid me the amount I should have saved with the coupon. It’s a nice feature, and I’m sure all the parts of the app will just get simpler to use in time.

For the sangria, I chose apples in two colors. I found some pretty, organic Golden Delicious apples and used small, red, organic Galas as well. There are also some orange slices in the sangria. The lemon juice came from a Meyer lemon I had just received in my CSA delivery. Then, I needed to decide which hard cider to use. One of my favorites is Leprechaun Dry which is made in Houston. Whole Foods always has Leprechaun, and that day I also found Isastegi which is a Basque cider from Spain. I’d never noticed it there before. I only tasted one cider on my recent trip to northern Spain since it wasn’t actually cider season, so I was excited to taste this one at home. I’ve learned that Spanish ciders tend to be very tart with a bit of flavor of beer yeast. It’s a different style of cider than American and English hard ciders. I enjoyed tasting the Isastegi, but it was tart, so I went with the Leprechaun for balanced, apple flavor. Depending on the sweetness or tartness of the hard cider you choose, you may want more or less lemon juice than suggested. I’m betting this cider sangria will be a festive addition to Thanksgiving Day.

I was contacted by M80 on behalf of AT&T to write about the Isis Mobile Wallet app. I received the Samsung Galaxy III device and a stipend to use within the wallet app.
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