Spiced Mulled Wine

• 1 large orange, cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• Cooking spray
• 10 black peppercorns
• 5 whole cloves
• 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 3 whole allspice
• 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 (750-milliliter) bottles zinfandel or other fruity dry red wine

1. Preheat oven to 200u0b0.
2. Arrange orange slices on a wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 200u0b0 for 3 hours or until dried.
3. Combine peppercorns and next 5 ingredients on a double layer of cheesecloth. Gather edges of cheesecloth together; tie securely.
4. Combine orange slices, spice sachet, sugar, orange juice, and wine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat just to a simmer (do not boil). Reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes. Discard sachet.
5. Toasting whole spices releases incredibly robust flavor; however, you can substitute ground dry spices if you'd prefer. About 1/2 teaspoon of the ground version of each spice called for should do the trick.

orange, cooking spray, black, cloves, cardamom pods, allspice, cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean, sugar, orange juice, bottles zinfandel

Taken from www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spiced-mulled-wine (may not work)