Friday, June 15, 2007

Limoncello

For the past two weeks, I've been making Limoncello.

It's actually pretty easy. I zested 10 lemons:

Lemon Peels

And then, poured a fifth of vodka over the zests, and left them in a sealed plastic container for 2 weeks.

(Giada says to leave them for 5 days, but the traditional Italian way is 40 days. As I ran out of time, and then went out of town, I did 10 days. My Limoncello might have a darker color than Giada's, but I think it also has a better flavor. Or I hope it does.)

Then, strain out the lemon zest (I would seriously put this through cheesecloth or a very fine mess sieve. There's a lot of lemon-peel detritus floating around in there that you probably want out.), add a mixture of simple sugar (3 1/2 c water, 2 1/2 c sugar, bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then cool), place in a pretty half gallon Ball jar, tie a ribbon around it, and save it for when you want to get good and drunk... in style.

Limoncello

Be sure to freeze this for a while, or at least refrigerate it, before you drink it. Like all vodkas, it's best served ice cold.

9 comments:

Kiki said...

That's awesome. I gave my Kipper this recipe: http://www.chicagoist.com/2006/05/25/orangecello_finally.php last year. He made it and ended up giving me one of his finished bottles.

I hope yours turns out great!

Jay said...

I would do anything that Giada told me to.

Unknown said...

I had some of this last summer in Chicago, and since moving have been unable to find anybody at any store or restaurant around here who bothers with it... I have been telling friends that it's SOOOO GOOOD, but since I didn't have a recipe, I couldn't prove it to them!

NOW I WILL SHOW THEM ALLLLL!

Anonymous said...

*drool* I know what I'm drinking tonight!

Anonymous said...

That looks AMAZING. I might have to make some and feed it to my wonderful coworkers that I won't see for a month.

Anonymous said...

What is with the limoncello? It's like the Amy Winehouse of drinks right now. I'm still stuck on mojitos and apparently everyone else is moving on. It never depressed me that I cannot keep up with fashion, but not even being able to keep up with beverages seems kind of sad.

At any rate, I'll have to try this stuff---thanks for the recipe! The entire Internet cannot be wrong. I may be the last one to the limoncello party, but I will also be the DRUNKEST one at the party. On account of my low tolerance.

Jason said...

Giada rocks my world. My wife gets jealous because she's gorgeous, but I swear I love her for her cooking!

SarahReznor said...

someone brought a bottle of vodka for hubby's birthday and i've been trying to find smtg to do with it - this is it! thank M!

Christie said...

I printed this out and cannot wait to make it. I would make it right now if I didn't think my husband would freak out that I spent $15 on lemons. However, based on his comment above, I may be able to get away with it since it is a Giada recipe.