sangria recipe #2
Posted: April 30, 2023 Filed under: beverages | Tags: brandy, club soda, cointreau, ice, lemon, lime, orange, red wine, sugar Leave a comment
An 18th Century Favorite
Growing up in America I was not exposed to libation, like my lucky European friends. But flash forward a few decades and here we are!
This is the second sangria recipe in Mom’s Cookbook (here’s #1). I prefer this one because the addition of Cointreau and brandy makes for a warm and delicious “oomph” for the tastebuds.
We enjoyed this sangria on the last day of Fiesta 2023. You can read more about San Antonio’s colorful Fiesta celebration here plus score a family favorite German potato salad recipe.
The Whimsical Wine Label Of Sí! Vale! Tempranillo Rioja
Foodie Tips
❤ Tasting notes: Presidente Brandy is made using grapes from northwest Mexico’s Hermosillo region. These grapes are aged for at least 24 months in American oak barrels. Presidente has aromas/notes of fruit, oak, caramel, vanilla, and almonds. It’s perfect for this sangria or mixed in with margaritas. I highly recommend and also use this in Mom’s wildly memorable brandied pumpkin flan recipe.
❤ Spanish red wine: You can use your favorite red wine. My go-to favorite is a Tempranillo. I used a bottle of Sí! Vale! Tempranillo Rioja which I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed the wine label (shown above). This wine’s tasting notes? “Flavors of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, covered in dark chocolate and stashed in a cigar box for a couple of months!”
❤ You may want to double up on the sugar as I was thirsting for a little more sweet.
❤ My Cousin Alison typically has sangria at her fun gatherings. She includes lemons and limes which I will try next.
❤ I was out of Cointreau so I subbed in Grand Marnier. You could also sub Triple Sec.
❤ I’m not a fan of wimpy ice cubes that melt quickly and water down drinks. I routinely make large 2-inch cubes with my Tovolo King Cube ice cube tray.
i. Time
About 10-15 minutes to prep. The longer you chill, the better the thrill (up to a week in the fridge)!
ii. Ingredients
1 ½ cups | spanish red wine
1-2 tablespoons | sugar
½ | orange, washed and sliced
½ | lemon and lime, sliced (optional, per above)
2 tablespoons | cointreau
2 tablespoons | brandy
6 ounces | club soda, chilled
to serve | ice cubes
iii. What To Do
1. In a pitcher, combine your chosen wine and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Add the orange slices, Cointreau and brandy.
3. You can chill in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Overnight will let the flavors mingle.
4. Add the soda to the pitcher (or glass). Add the ice to your serving glass and pour on the sangria. Garnish with more orange slices or fruit, if desired.
Yield: About 2 servings. You can double this if you’re making a pitcher of sangria for more thirsty people.
Betty’s Son
Founder and “Nostalgic Food Blogger” of Betty’s Cook Nook
An original scan of Mom’s recipe:
11/30/21Presidente Brandy
chicken breasts au vin
Posted: November 15, 2015 Filed under: casseroles and one-dish meals, meats poultry and fish | Tags: bay leaf, brandy, butter, chicken breast, flour, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, pepper, red wine, salt, white onion Leave a comment
This recipe is dedicated to the Bauml Family.
You were more than just neighbors… you’re like family in many, many ways!
~ ❤ ~
“Au vin” is French for “with wine”
Chicken with wine? What can be better?!? Chicken with more wine! Oui! Oui!
Growing up I was a huge animal fan. I still am! I raised more than my fair share of pets – two toy poodles, fish, zebra finches, a cockatiel named “Sam,” and I raised quail from eggs with the help of an incubator and lots of patience. My passion was more like an obsession and Mom and Dad seemed not to notice as I begged them to let me also have a bantam chicken. This was a critical link in my transformation into a bona fide farmer! :)
With 30+ quail living in our back yard I really didn’t need a chicken but our family’s friend Mr. Bauml had some chickens with feathers on the legs and toes that I thought were really cool and before anyone knew it, a butterscotch-colored chicken was living in our backyard pen.
Make no mistake – the quail and the chicken were not to be eaten – they were my pets and were to be admired with the eyes and the heart. They could also be hugged or high-fived, if desired.
Chicken is the hero of this meal and partnered with its sidekicks wine and brandy, I hope you’ll find the end result a tasty twist on your typical poultry dish.
foodie tips ~
❤ For small white onions I suppose you can use pearl onions as the recipe doesn’t say to chop them. I didn’t have any pearls on hand so I used chopped white onions.
❤ Setting brandy on fire is fun! For another one of Mom’s recipes that will impress your guests, try Betty’s brandied pumpkin flan recipe. It’s always a hit at the holidays!
i. ingredients
4 | chicken breasts, boned and split
¼ cup | flour
1 teaspoon | salt
⅛ teaspoon (I used more) | fresh cracked black pepper
½ cup | butter (my grandmother insisted on Falfurrias brand butter)
¼ cup | brandy
2 cups | dry red wine
½ pound (2 cups) | small white onions, peeled
¼ cup | parsley, chopped
1 | bay leaf, crumbled (I left mine whole for easy removal)
1 clove | garlic, crushed (or pressed)
½ pound | fresh mushrooms
ii. what to do
0. Preheat oven to 375°F.
1. Dust the chicken breasts in a mixture of the flour, salt, and pepper. In a skillet, sauté the breasts in the butter.
2. Warm the brandy and set a match to it – no worries, it will be unlikely that you will cause a culinary explosion! Pour the flaming brandy over the skillet chicken. Shake the skillet until the flame dies away.
3. Transfer the chicken and the pan juices to a casserole dish. Add the wine, onions, parsley, bay leaf, and the garlic clove. Cover tightly with foil then with the lid. Cook for 30 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and cook for 15 minutes.
I hope you enjoy this dish au vin! I partnered mine with some creamy four cheese Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat!
Serves 6 – 8 humans
~ Patrick
Betty’s Son
Founder and “Nostalgic Food Blogger” of Betty’s Cook Nook
A scan of Mom’s original recipe
spaghettini bolognese
Posted: June 20, 2015 Filed under: meats poultry and fish, sauces, The Best Of The Best Recipes | Tags: carrots, celery, garlic, green pepper, italian herb seasoning, italian sausage, mushrooms, onion, red wine, sugar, tomato sauce, vegetable oil Leave a comment
Crazy For This Bolognese
I’m confident this is the first of Mom’s recipes I found cut out with Pinking Shears (see the pic below).
Mom was an expert artist, although she would never consider herself as such [insert a Betty-blush here]. Mom’s artistic mediums spanned food, paper, wood, plants and cloth, where her pinking shears were one of her essential tools.
Mom loved sewing so much she found a way to include a sewing closet into her and Dad’s bedroom so there’s no doubting her passion for handmade clothes. Mom made many of her dresses, my band uniforms – she even sewed printed labels bearing my name into my clothes. I wish I still had the hand-painted denim shirt she made me based on my wish – a red barn complete with a scattering of farm animals painted in her “Oh, Betty” style.
I love it when I can find evidence of when Mom’s recipes came into existence. This one was from the May 1975 issue of Family Circle. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. My partner Joe said this sauce was better than his sauce. That really says a lot since his Red Sauce recipe is my favorite.
foodie tips ~
❤ Spaghettini? We had to look it up. And we briefly lived in Italy. It’s thin spaghetti. How to pronounce “bolognese?” This dish hails from Bologna, Italy, so it’s pronounced with four syllables – not three. Like boh-loh-NYEH-zeh. If you’re doubting your Italian pronunciation you can simply refer to it as a ragù, making sure to pepper your pronunciation with some hearty Italian hand gesturing.
❤ Pump up the jam. I added more carrot, celery and garlic. More cowbell? Well, that’s an ingredient for another special recipe.
❤ Why not serve this dish with some sidekicks? Some pepperoni-cheese bread and a side salad would hit the spot. It’s called a side salad so there’s more room for the bread. :~)
i. ingredients
¼ pound (about 1½ cups) | mushrooms, sliced
1 | carrot, sliced
1 clove | garlic, crushed or minced
½ cup | onion, chopped
½ cup | celery, chopped
½ cup | green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons | wesson oil*
¾ pound | Italian sausage, casings removed and broken-up with a spoon
2 15-ounce cans | Hunt’s tomato sauce
½ cup | water
¼ cup | dry red wine (not optional)
1 teaspoon | sugar
¼ teaspoon | Italian herb seasoning
* We argued over this one. I wanted to use olive oil and Joe said “stick to the recipe the first time,” my very own cardinal rule. Joe won. But I still snuck-in more carrot, celery and fresh garlic since I wasn’t changing an ingredient. Besides, who gets all excited over one carrot, celery stalk or garlic clove?! Not me, that’s who!
ii. what to do
1. In a medium pan or Dutch oven, sauté the mushrooms, carrot, garlic, onion, celery and green pepper in the oil.
2. Add the sausage and cook until it’s no longer pink. Drain the fat (or not) … we don’t judge.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally.
4. About 25 minutes into the simmer you can prepare your spaghettini by preparing your pasta according to the instructions.
5. Serve the bolognese over hot, cooked thin pasta.
Yields 5+ servings.
~ Patrick
Betty’s Son
Founder and “Nostalgic Food Blogger” of Betty’s Cook Nook
Here’s a scan of Mom’s original recipe.
A scan of Mom’s Spaghettini Bolognese recipe … as clipped from the May 1975 issue of Family Circle Magazine.
Betty's Cook Nook 