It’s the time of year to celebrate with friends and family and what better way to toast them then with a nice warm cup of Christmas punch? If you’ve ever read “A Christmas Carol” or seen one of the many productions, you may recall a line towards the end of the story when Scrooge is offering to raise Bob Cratchit’s salary. He tells Bob, to paraphrase, “We’ll discuss your situation over a bowl of Smoking Bishop.” What is a Smoking Bishop you may ask? The name came from Victorian times when they made drinks with names after the various orders in the Catholic Church. Depending on which liquor was added the name changed. This recipe, is from the book Drinking With Dickens, by Charles Dickens’s great-grandson, Cedric. It’s called “smoking” because you’re supposed to roast the clove studded Seville oranges in the oven until darkened, or maybe because you heat it until a steam rises, you decide. It may be hard to find Seville oranges in your area so you can use navel instead. Let’s give it a try!
- Smoking Bishop Recipe
- 6 oranges
- 1/2 cup raw sugar, cane or Demerara
- 1 bottle red wine
- 1 bottle Ruby port
- 30 whole cloves
- 5 dried cardamom pods
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Wash the oranges and stick the whole cloves in the oranges
- Roast the clove studded oranges in the oven for 1 hour remove from oven let cool 20 min
- Add the sugar and red wine (not the port yet!) to the oranges and cover for 12 hours
- After the mixture has rested squeeze the oranges through a strainer into a large sauce pan.
- Pour the wine/sugar mixture into the sauce pan straining a second time to catch any solid pieces that may have fallen into the wine while squeezing, (hopefully you removed the cloves before squeezing the oranges!)
- Add the rest of the ingredients and slowly heat the mixture until it smokes.
- Do not allow the mixture to boil!
- Serve warm in mugs and enjoy.
If you’d like to change up the the second liquor you can add Champagne and make a “Smoking Pope!” You can also try claret instead of port and make a “Smoking Cardinal.” I am very partial to the story of “A Christmas Carol” so I’ll be sticking with the original. If you give this a try please let us know the outcome, especially if you make the recipe your own. I’ll keep posting more Holiday treats soon. Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Boone Appétit!
