Sunshine in a Bottle
[Editor's note: As promised, the full
summary of my recent road trip (with photos) is now
available at Travels
to Distant
[Strick]Lands.]
One of my more fond memories of visiting
the island of
Capri, off the coast of southern Italy, was my
introduction to the region's signature liqueur,
limoncello. Made with lemons and served chilled, it
was the perfect aperitif for such an exotic
location. Bursting with flavor upon one's palate,
it was like Mediterranean sunshine in a bottle.
 So
why am I reminiscing about a liqueur nearly a year
and a half after traveling to Italy? One of the
long-procrastinated things I've accomplished during
my time off over the last few weeks was to finally
try my hand at brewing my own batch of limoncello.
Yesterday, I completed the final step in the
recipe, so after a week or two of final infusion,
the concotion will be ready for bottling and
drinking. I took a little taste yesterday, and the
experiment seems to have proven successful.
If you're lucky, you might be able to have a
taste or two if I see you in the near future.
Otherwise, you can give the recipe a try yourself
if you're adventurous enough. Ciao!
Limoncello
8-10 good-sized lemons
1 bottle (750 ml) of grain alcohol (e.g.
Everclear)
500 ml distilled water
1 1/2 lb. sugar
Peel the "zest" from all of the lemons (the
outer, yellow part of the peel), being careful not
to get any of the white pith from the inner part of
the peel. Put the lemon zest into a large bottle or
jar (a Mason jar or lemonade/ice tea jar would work
fine), add the grain alcohol, and place in a cool,
dry place for 3-4 weeks. Shake or stir gently from
time to time.
When you're ready for the next step, filter out
the lemon zest from the alcohol infusion (I
accomplished this with a simple #4 coffee filter).
Next, dissolve the sugar into the distilled water
and boil for 5 minutes to create a syrup. Let the
syrup cool to room temperature, then add it to the
alcohol infusion in the same bottle/jar that you
originally used (after washing out any remaining
lemon peel residue). Let sit again in a cool, dry
place for a minimum of one week, occasionally
stirring/shaking gently. Then bottle the finished
product into small bottles and give out to all your
friends and family!
Note: Limoncello should be served well-chilled,
preferably from the freezer (it won't freeze), in
small (1-2 ounce) servings as an aperitif. I've
heard it's also good poured over vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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What is "The Daily Strick"?
I have long called
myself a writer, but too often I don't do
what a writer must do daily: write. So
you, dear reader, are the beneficiary of
my resolution to make a positive change in
at least one area of my life. Every single
day of this new year, I will write
something, anything, and post it here. It
is my intention to use this daily exercise
to jump-start my too-long-dormant creative
energies, and perhaps generate some
worthwhile material this year. Hopefully
you will find at least an occasional
amusement or insight in my daily
musings.
Today's
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Previously...
1/9:
What
Would Jesus Drive?
1/8:
Southwestern
Sojourn
1/7: Wheel
of Fortune
1/6: Class
Warfare
1/5:
Very
Large Dream
1/4: The
New Nuclear
Age
1/3: Going
Solo
1/2: New
Year, Old Cave
1/1:
All
Things End
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