Limoncello Pt 1

Quite a few months ago I received a free copy of MIX magazine, a publication here in Portland,OR. The magazine covers food, culture and nightlife in Portland. In this particular copy there was a recipe for Limoncello which has been growing in popularity in the upscale bars and restaurants in the Pearl district, which is a hip, young, urbanite district in what was the old warehouse district. Limoncello a very sweet, almost syrupy and strongly flavored lemon liqueur popular in Italy served after meals as a digestivo.

I have been interested in infused oils and vinegars and to then see this recipe for infused alcohol, well I couldn't resist! The process is agonizingly slow and I am fairly impatient so we will see how this goes. Tonight I zested the lemons, added the alcohol and dated. Now I get to sit here for the next 40 days waiting...and waiting...and waiting.

Limoncello Recipe pt 1

7-8 Lemon's, zested

1/2 bottle vodka

In a clean, sterilized 2 qt mason jar add the lemon zest and vodka. Cover, place in a dark place for 40 days.

When zesting the lemons do not use a grater zester. The peel should be taken off in large strips so the liqueur will be easier to strain later. At first I figured I would use my excellent skills with a paring knife to zest the lemon but it only took 1 lemon to figure out that i'm not as skilled as I thought I was. I was getting to much of the white stuff, called the pith, which creates a bitter taste, so I switched over to the highly versatile potato peeler. Zesting the rest of the lemons was a breeze and left almost no pith. Now I have to figure out to do with 8 lemons... dilemmas.