Limoncello, Arancello, and Pompelmocello: Mashes Ready for Testing

It's been three months since we set the Limoncello, Arancello, and Pompelmocello mashes to rest. Today I tested peels from each to see if the mashes were ready. Simply bending a peel allows you to check its rigidity; when the peel "breaks" in half easily, the mash is ready. Here's a look at the peels and the infused Everclear from each batch:

Lemons

 

Oranges

Grapefruit

The lemon and grapefruit peels broke easily, while the orange peel did not break at all.  All three of the batches were full flavored, but light in color.  I've decided to let them sit a while longer.

The final steps, once the mashes are ready, is to combine the infused Everclear with a simple sugar, filter (or not), then bottle.  You can find the full recipe here with some tweaks on the mash prep here.

Limoncello, Arancello, and Pompelmocello

Last year's Meyer limoncello was amazing, so we decided to do it again.  This year, however, we made mashes for limoncello, arancello, and pompelmocello.

The first time we tried limoncello we researched like crazy and measured carefully.  This time we took a more casual approach ~ results to be determined.  We started with our bountiful Meyer lemon, orange, and grapefruit trees and 6 one liter Le Parfait canning jars.  The steps are as follows:

• Pick and wash fruit; peel ~ avoiding as much pith as possible.
• Pack peelings into canning jars.
• Fill jars with alcohol of choice; we use Everlclear.
• Push peels down to press out the air bubbles; add more alcohol as needed to cover peels.
• Seal jars and place in cool, dark location.

As a ratio, it seems 1.5L of alcohol is what's needed to fill 2 1L canning jars well packed with peels.

Big lessons learned last year were:

1. Let the mash sit.  There is no hurry and the longer it rests the fuller the flavor.
2. Let the simple syrup cool before mixing with the strained mash.  Despite straining the mash well, our limoncello was cloudy as a result of mixing it with warm to hot syrup.

Of the three I'm most interested in the pompelmocello.  Stay tuned ...

Experimenting with Cuisines: Moroccan Food

This week's box contained:

• Chantenay Carrots
• Sweet Corn
• Red Cabbage
• Desiree Potatoes
• Bunched Parsley Root
• Melons
• Strawberries
• Lettuce (traded for more parsley root)

Having just finished LuLu in Marrakech, I took my inspiration for the week from Morocco.  If you've never tried it, Moroccan food is exceptional.  Intensely flavorful, simple to prepare and, for the most part, really healthy.

I happen to have a tagine pot that I look after for a Moroccan friend.  I decided to put it to use for dinner tonight and made a mixed vegetable tagine, loosely based on a recipe from the BBC's Good Food site.

Making a tagine is easy and can be done on the stove top in a Dutch oven or a small stockpot. The process is as follows:

• Saute aromatics (onions, garlic, and the like) in olive oil,
• Add the spices and stir till fragrant,
• Add a can of diced tomatoes,
• Add a mixture diced vegetables and beans
• Add a cup of water, mix well, then
• Cover and simmer till the vegetables are tender

Serve over couscous.  The variations are endless.  Tagines are really a braise, so anything you'd consider cooking that way can apply here.  The Moroccan spices are heavenly and well worth a go, but the cooking technique lends itself to any flavor variation.

Seasonal Vegetable Tagine
... serves 4 generously as a main course

2 small carrots, diced
2 small turnips, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
2 medium onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2t  agave nectar
4t  ras el hanout
3 T harissa
olive oil
water
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat till translucent; add minced garlic and stir till fragrant.  Add spices and stir till fragrant.  Toss the prepared vegetables and chickpeas together, then place in the base of a tagine. Top with tomato mixture, add water and cover.  Bake, covered, for 1 hour stirring occasionally.

Other Moroccan recipes I'd like to try include:

• Moroccan Spiced Carrots
• Spiced Tomato and Couscous Soup
• Vegetarian Harira

Kitty Morse is well known in the US for her Moroccan cookbooks. I've just ordered The Vegetarian Table: North Africa and am anxiously awaiting the book expected from Mourad Lahlou of Aziza in San Francisco.  More Moroccan food to follow!

Too Much Zucchini: Pasta with Zucchini, Lemon, Pine Nuts and Herbs

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we've got a lot of zucchini.  After the tapas, we still have 3.5 pounds left to consume.  I am not a big fan of zucchini, so this presents a bit of a challenge.

I spent some time digging through cookbooks and searching the web to no avail.  Finally, I decided to search for an ingredient pairing ~ coupling an ingredient I love with one I'm struggling with, in this case, capers and zucchini. 

Turns out the original recipe is from The Greens Cookbook by Debora Madison, which we happen to own.  We adapted this recipe to the ingredients on hand to great results.

Pasta with Zucchini, Lemon, Pine Nuts and Herbs
Serves Two Generously

1/2 package of whole wheat pasta (roughly 4 ounces)
1 medium zucchini, cleaned and sliced into matchsticks
zest of 1/4 lemon, sliced into matchsticks
6 T extra virgin olive oil (worth using a good one for this recipe)
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
5 T pine nuts
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
4 t capers, non-pariel
2 sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted if necessary, sliced into matchsticks
salt and pepper
Parmesan (optional)

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta and prepare all ingredients as noted above.

Heat 2 T oil in a saute pan; add pine nuts and cook till they begin to color, stirring frequently.  Add garlic, cook till fragrant, and remove from heat and place in a large serving bowl.  Stir in remaining olive oil, lemon zest, parsley, capers and sun-dried tomatoes into the pine nut mixture; set aside.

When the water comes to a boil, add the zucchini and cook for one minute.  Remove from water with a bamboo skimmer (or similar strainer) and add to the pine nut mixture.  Return the water to a boil and cook pasta as instructed and drain; add to the bowl and mix well.

Enjoy!

Meyer Limoncello

Infusing is a great way to get the absolute most out of the food on hand.  Rather than tossing those lemon peels, make lemon infused vodka for use in cocktails.  Rather than tossing that extra tarragon, infuse a white wine vinegar.

The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.  (I was shocked to find many references to, and recipes for, bacon-infused vodka on the web.)  Here are some excellent references on infusion:

• How to Infuse Liquor
• Hot and Cold Infused Oils
• Upgrading Vinegar

In early March of this year, we blogged about our Meyer Lemon tree in Spring in Silicon Valley. We had a tree full of lemons and needed to find a way to preserve them.  One option we chose was juicing them, saving the peels to infuse Everclear as a base for limoncello.  We are so happy we did!

Limoncello is traditionally served after dinner as a digestif or alongside a dessert course. A great general reference on limoncello can be found on Life in Italy.   Take note of this quote:

"One sips limoncello slowly, not all at one time as a shot."

I laughed out loud when I read this, but limoncello is a potent liqueur. Ours is based on Everclear, which weighs in at 151 proof.  Needless to say, limoncello should be consumed in very small quantities.

Here's our recipe:

Meyer Limoncello

Makes 1.25 liters

750ml Everclear (can substitute vodka if Everclear unavailable in your area)
10 Meyer lemons
2c water
2c sugar

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemons (avoiding the white pith).  Place the lemon zest and the Everclear in a glass jar and allow to sit in a cool, dark place for 30 days, stirring daily.  (Ensure the jar prevents evaporation; we used the Le Parfait 2 liter glass canning jar). At 30 days, begin testing the zest by removing a piece from the mash.  If it breaks when bent, the mixture is ready for the next step.  If it simply bends, return the mixture to the cool, dark place.  Test weekly.

When ready, strain the alcohol and discard the zest.  Create a simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat.  Stir frequently until sugar dissolves completely.  Add the simple syrup to the infused alcohol. Bottle and refrigerate till cold.  Limoncello is best stored in the freezer till ready for use.

We let our mash rest for 3 months. The infused Everclear was a deep golden yellow and fairly clear.  The peels were still flexible, but had lost much of their color.

When we added the simple syrup, the mixture was a milky, lemony yellow. Since we were hoping for a clearer product, we filtered the limoncello, using a fine mesh strainer lined with a standard coffee filter.  (This didn't make much of a difference in the color, but it did taste much smoother afterward.)  From there the limoncello went into the freezer to chill.

We had our first glass last night and it was amazing. When tried side by side with Nardini's Acqua Di Cedro, it showed well: much less cloying and much more refreshing. Excellent lemon aroma and flavor, with the sweetness balanced by a bit of tartness.

Next weekend we're going to try a pairing of this limoncello with Salmon Piccata / Seitan Piccata.

Status of the Experiments: Meyer Limoncello, Fermented Tofu, and Sauerkraut

I took the time today to check in on the three experiments: Meyer limoncello, fermented tofu, and sauerkraut.  None of them are ready for prime time, but all are making progress.

The limoncello mash is the most straightforward, least "risky" of the bunch.  At this point the lemon peel is still very flexible and has quite a bit of color left to release, though the  Everclear is now a vibrant yellow.  Most of the recipes we found recommended adding the simple syrup after a week or two of infusion.  It smelled great today (after four weeks), but I'm glad we're waiting ~ my sense is that it will continue to improve.

The fermented tofu is a bit harder to read.  It is comfortably submerged in dry sherry.  Some of the mold from the dry fermentation has settled to the bottom of the jar, some still clings to the tofu.  It simply smells like sherry and nothing visibly frightening is happening.  We've got another month to go before we have to decide if we're actually going to taste it...

The sauerkraut is *amazing*.  I never thought I would think, type, or say those words in combination.  It's been brewing for just over a week and now tastes like "fresh" sauerkraut.  The texture is still crisp, the flavor is salty, but not overly so, and the aroma is mild.  There was no mold, "bloom", or "scum" on top ~ just a few foamy bubbles around the edge.  I cleaned the plate and weight that keep the cabbage submerged, stirred in a bit more brine, and set it back to rest.  I am looking forward to an outstanding Reuben sandwich in a few weeks time...

Spring in Silicon Valley

 

It is citrus season in Silicon Valley.  We have several trees in our yard, with my favorite being the Meyer lemon tree. 

Meyer lemons are believed to be a cross between lemons and mandarin oranges.  The are amazingly fragrant, less acidic than regular lemons, and slightly sweet.  Their color is deeper as well, with some Meyer lemons tending towards orange.  

Our tree is a prodigious producer of lemons, which is a good problem to have.  A quick Google on "Meyer lemon recipes" yields countless options. My favorite find was the LA Times article "100 things to do with a Meyer lemon".  My all time favorite recipe including Meyer lemons is Meyer Lemon Risotto from 101 Cookbooks.

Here's what we've done with our lemons so far:

Meyer Limoncello

750ml Everclear (can substitute vodka if Everclear unavailable in your area)
10 Meyer lemons
2c water
2c sugar

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemons (avoiding the white pith).  Place the lemon zest and the Everclear in a glass jar and allow to sit in a cool, dark place for 30 days, stirring daily.  At 30 days, begin testing the zest by removing a piece from the mash.  If it breaks when bent, the mixture is ready for the next step.  If it simply bends, return the mixture to the cool, dark place.  Test weekly.

When ready, strain the alcohol and discard the zest.  Create a simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat.  Stir frequently until sugar dissolves completely.  Add the simple syrup to the infused alcohol. Bottle and refrigerate till cold.  Limoncello is best stored in the freezer till ready for use.

This recipe is an adaption of the following recipes:

• Washington Post
• Slow Travel Italy
• Why Go Italy
• Food Network

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

18 Meyer lemons, quartered and thinly sliced (~ 6 cups)
5 1/3 cups water
5 1/3 cups sugar

Wash the lemons well, removing any residue.  Halve the lemons length-wise twice and slice thinly.  Add the lemons and the water to a non-reactive container; let sit for ~24 hours (I used the stainless steel pot in which I'll cook the marmalade).  Bring the lemon / water mixture to a boil; boil uncovered until peels are soft, 25-35 minutes.  Add the sugar and return to a rapid boil, monitoring temperature with a candy thermometer.  When the temperature reaches 220 degrees Fahrenheit, test the mixture to see if it has jelled. 

Once ready, ladle into sterilized jars and process.  Step by step instructions for preserving high acid foods can be found here.  You can download the PDF version by clicking here.

Our recipe is an adaption of the following recipes:

• Epicurious
• One Green Generation
• Simply Recipes
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Food Gal blog

A word on adapting recipes.  There's no "formula" per se, just intuition.  That said, for these recipes I did put a bit of math behind the comparisons to settle on ingredient amounts.  Click here for an example.