Happy Day To Me

Well, today I turned somewhere north of thirty.  If you remember, I tried using my first crop of limes to make a limoncello.  I have tried it with lemons, but never limes.

Only the skin of the fruit is used in the making.

Add the rinds to the strongest grain alcohol on the planet and place in a dark cupboard for weeks or months.

It turned out beautiful.  Limoncello, when the syrup is added, turns cloudy, opaque.  Not so with the lime one.

This stuff will literally kill you if you drink too much of it, though that would be impossible I think. Surely the liver would fail and the imbiber become comatose before they could drink very much of it. I took one tiny sip and that is it.  It almost brought me to my knees.  I felt the heat go down my throat and all the way down my esophagus.  So much for a little drinky winky on my birthday.  Oh my heaven and stars.  I am saving this for cough medicine or the flu.

One More For The Road

Just a joke.  A little drinky winky of this and you'll be headed to bed.  My limencello, (my term as it was made with Persian limes that I grew), is ready.  Since the day is cloudy, I could not photograph the brilliant green that it turned.  So beautiful.  Must be the color of the Emerald Isle, a place I've always wanted to visit. 

My lemons, tangerines, tangelos, grapefruits and oranges are ripening and I'll soon have to juice most of them.  My lone pomegranate is huge and unbeknownst to me had burst under the pressure of all the juice.  I will have to let the grandkids have a go at it.  

Did I say, one sip of this takes your breath away.  My husband is sick, so maybe I can try it out on him and clear his passages.  Other than that, it's going in the freezer.  I did add the simple syrup, but it stayed clear, unlike limoncello which becomes opaque and creamy when the syrup is added.  I wonder how oranges would taste for a liqueur...

Lime Time

My Persian lime tree produced twenty limes this fall.  My first crop I might add.  You notice all the peelers.  I have even more.  You see, to make limoncello (I don't even know what you'd call limoncello made from limes), one must peel only the surface rind. It is hard to find a peeler that works well. No white pith as it will ruin the batch.  

I poured a very strong grain alcohol into a jar with the peels.  After a few weeks in a cool, dark place, the peels will snap like a potato chip.  Then, I'll add a sugar syrup and bottle it up and into the freezer.  It will grow hair on your chest.  I rarely drink it, but instead, give it away.

Not so for my lime juice.

I freeze it in little cubes and bag it up for when I need smaller amounts.

Voila!

Limoncello

Here is one of the first posts I ever wrote.  I can't believe it has been this long since I started blogging (this post is from December 2008).  My lemons, blood oranges, limes, oranges, grapefruits and on and on are ready once again and the kinds of citrus I grow has grown exponentially. I haven't made this in years as we rarely drink. Nevertheless, here it goes again...

Well, it's that time again. My Meyer lemons are ripening and it's time to make hooch.  I have had this on a beach in Italy and my own concoction, but to tell the truth, I think limoncello tastes like lemon gasoline.  Whew!  The Italians say they drink it after meals as a digestive. This will grow hair on your chest, clear up allergies, coughs; a real magic potion for whatever ails you or maybe you just won't care and get a little limon-mellow. I think I made 4 gallons of the stuff last year. It really tastes best on hot summer days but what the heck, have it drizzled over a mango sorbet or whatever your preference might be. It is also good mixed with tonic or my personal fave, mixed with champagne. So, enough said. Here is the recipe.

17 large lemons
2 750 milliliter bottles grain alcohol
51/2 cups water
6 cups sugar
Wash and dry the lemons. With a good vegetable peeler, remove only the yellow rind of the lemon. Do not get any of the white pith as this will make your limoncello bitter. Place the lemon peels in a 4 quart Mason jar with a rubber-seal lid. Add the grain alcohol. Store in a cool dark place swirling the mixture daily for approximately 2 weeks. When you can hear the peels making a funny noise, check the peels and if they break just like a potato chip, it is ready for the next step. All of the essential oil will have been extracted into the alcohol. Place a colander over a large bowl and line with a paper towel or coffee filters. Pour the alcohol and peels into the colander and let drain. Discard the peels. Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring until it is dissolved. Cover and let cool to room temperature. Transfer the alcohol mixture back to the mason jar and add the cooled sugar water stirring to combine. Store for a month in a cool dark place. After a month, transfer the limoncello to smaller bottles that can be sealed with rubber stoppers or corks. Store the bottles in the freezer. Serve directly from the freezer.
The longer the limoncello sits, the mellower it becomes. It will last in the freezer for at least a year and I've read indefinitely. The internet has many many recipes for limoncello and sites where you can even buy supplies. Make sure that all your equipment is clean ( I know you wouldn't use dirty equipment) but there are airborne yeasts and other little thingys that you need to be aware of so clean is the watchword. I read that the best limoncello is made with the lemons that have green rinds so I experimented last winter and the only thing I could tell is that the limoncello was green instead of yellow. I certainly am not a connoisseur of limoncello so you can read up and let me know. Just in case someone out there might not know, grain alcohol is like 100 proof and this limoncello is very potent so remember, just a little drinky winky.
I thought since I was at it, I would share one more recipe for Crema di limoncello. To a liter of limoncello, stir in 1 tablespoon of vanilla and 21/2 cups of heavy cream. Store in refrigerator for a few days. You can certainly experiment if you please -add more sugar or less cream; this is just a basic recipe for the Crema. Chin chin, y'all.

LEMONY GOODNESS

What do you get when life gives you lemon, lemons and more lemons? Curds, juice, limoncello, desserts...It is that time of year when my lemons are ripe and I couldn't be prouder if I'd made them myself. Meyer lemons are my favorite, hands down. A fellow named Meyer discovered them in China at the start of the 20th century and did whatever with them. A hybrid cross between a lemon and mandarin orange, they are perfect. Thin skinned and larger than supermarket lemons, they are fat and juicy. I've made limoncello for years, but as a light drinker, I have gallons of the stuff still in the freezer (type in limoncello for my recipe). Juice too. This time around, I am going to preserve them. These are used primarily in Moroccan food and though I don't think I've ever made any North African cuisine, I am willing to experiment. I recently saw a recipe for preserved lemon halves baked or broiled with a goat chevre filling and though I can't remember which magazine I saw it in, I'm going to try and wing it.

Here is one of my Ponderosa Lemons alongside a Meyer Lemon. They are softball sized and wait till you see one of my future Etrog Lemons. Supposedly football sized, my big girl Etrog tree is too young to marry her off to some bee. If you too would like to grow lemons, Logee's Tropical Plants in Connecticut has a catalog with wonderful fruiting plants. Even in Oklahoma, one can grow citrus.