Wednesday, April 15, 2009

blood orange sangria


up and coming staple

did you know i have a thing for champagne? not the real champagne (though i've had some yummy stuff at husband's uncle's reception in london in which friends of the family hopped on over to france to pick up a few 100 custom bottles for them...), but i do like the sweet, sparkling wines of the world. i tend to pop one open on a saturday morning for mimosas only to have no idea how i'll finish it. husband's not that into the bubbly and there is no reason for me to be imbibing solo whenever the heck i want.

this sangria adaptation comes from the "need" to use half a bottle of champagne and my other current obsession: blood oranges. i look forward to blood orange season every year. this year, TJs had 2lb bags for $2.99 and i bought 2 bags at a time for a few weeks. so i had blood oranges and champagne and quite the conundrum.



but then husband opened a bottle of red to go with dinner and i had myself a little brainstorming session filled with inspiration. this is a quick and easy "sangria" (i use the term loosely because i'm not sure it's entirely correct to call this a true sangria) that you can manipulate to include what you've got on hand.

blood orange sangria
juice of 3-4 blood oranges
2 blood oranges, sliced thinly
about half a bottle of champagne ;)
2 -3 c red wine (husband opened a syrah)
1/4 c sugar
5-10 whole cloves
2-3 cinnamon sticks

combine all ingredients (you can grate a bit the cinnamon, too) in a pitcher and allow to sit. the longer the better, but i was on a self-imposed quick turnaround time and this tasted good enough for me after only 1 hour. i tasted initially and adjusted a bit, because i tend to like the flavor of orange juice, champagne, and sugar more than a strong wine flavor...but i imagine many people would prefer the opposite.

this was so yummy - the blood orange is much better than a plain old navel and the warm spices are great with wine and bubbly. stone fruits and apples would be excellent additions, if you so happened to have them. i bet it would have been even better if i'd had the patience to let it sit for 5 hours or more. next time!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

By "not that into the bubbly", she means that I love to drink it, but not a bottle at a time... these things are relative.

What's Cookin Chicago said...

Now this looks like a delicious glass of sangria! I love that deep red color!

Thomas said...

It's even a pretty drink, with the orange slicing through deep red! We must have some when I next come over and you're in need to ditch some bubbly. I've got the red!