Limoncello

 

At our supper clubs I must admit Chef Ben does do most of the cooking (as a chef he can do things in half the time it takes me). But I do like to contribute so  this month I decided to make an additional treat for our guests and make some Limoncello. If you aren’t sure what this is have a look here. Not food as such but still something tasty for everyone.

Although it was Tuscan night I thought no-one would mind if I looked to the South of Italy for a yummy digestif.

I looked at a couple of recipes and in the end I went for this one from food.com which seemed to be the least fuss and adaptable for UK as some of the recipes use pure alcohol which I couldn’t seem to find sold anywhere here.

Limoncello 

• 5 lemons
• 150 g sugar (just over 5 ounces)
• 1 litre vodka (a standard bottle)

Simple Syrup

• 170 g sugar
• 150 ml water

I must admit I ended up putting double the amount of syrup as it wasn’t sweet enough for us but I’d say put this amount and then try it as once you’ve added more you can’t take it out.

Directions:

1. Peel the lemons carefully, making sure you have none of the white pith on the peel – you want just the yellow.
2. Put all the peel and 150 g sugar in a food processor and process until the peel has been finely minced into the sugar. Empty mixture into a wide-mouthed jar, add vodka, and screw top closed.
3. Put in a dark, cool place. Shake once or twice daily for four to five days. (you can do more than this but I wouldn’t do less)
4. Make simple syrup by bringing sugar and water to boil in a small saucepan. Let cool.
5. Strain lemon peel/vodka mixture into another jar. Press on solids to remove as much of the liquid as possible. Discard solids.  Add cooled simple syrup and stir to combine. Pour into a the bottle you will be using.

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Foodie Penpals April

 

So here’s my second go at foodiepenpals, I’d made a couple of mistakes last time not thinking about postage and containers to pack things in although overall I think it went well, but this is a new month with a new penpal. This month was a bit tricky I had Mandy who lives in Devon and has a lovely food blog, she’s much better at me with it and inspires me to post more often.

She’s a bit of a tricky customer as her dietary requirements were “no sugar (inc fruit), gluten or dairy, no rye, oats or corn”. She also doesn’t like anything soya, strawberry flavoured or banana, and on a coffee ban. Wow!

So luckily she did give me some tips on what she did like so I went off to one of my favourite Japanese shops in Soho called Arigato, I picked up some wasabi and a pack to make your own sushi.

Controversial but I also bought some miso soup, I love it but it did go against the list of likes and dislikes on soya but I love it so thought that maybe Mandy might give it a go. I like that it’s in individual packets so I use it all the time and can take it with me to college and things.

Then I nipped across the road to Whole Foods as I wanted to hunt down something sweet but sugar free. I found something called Raw which claimed to be yummy and chocolate but also sugar free, wheat free, everything free. I picked up one of these for myself to try and I must admit it wasn’t for me but I like the idea of healthy treats so maybe I will investigate further.

From my personal stash I put in the box some coconut tea which I got last year I love it so refreshing. I also gave her a recipe for Suya chicken and some Suya powder which is something we got ground up when we went to Nigeria earlier this year. It’s a lovely flavour. The lemongrass I gave my previous penpal went down well so i gave a little bit of that. Here’s the box I sent out, cute huh.

Then a few days later my box arrived! And my wasn’t it pretty. Carol Anne had wrapped up a lovely box for me and posted it early! She’s the one who started the whole Foodie Penpals thing in Europe so I was excited to see what she would send. She has a great foodie blog that covers lots of lovely things to make including some of the things she’s sent me.

There was a whole host of things in it, I was surprised at what a tenner can buy you in Scotland. I received a few sweeties; a flump, a caramel wafer and Lee’s Macaroon.  Apparently these are all Scottish institutions so I shared them with Ben to see what he thought, although I really enjoyed the wafer and flump I think the macaroon was SO sweet it made my teeth ache.

I got a lovely ice cube tray which I used at the supper club on Saturday it’s cute and novelty as Carol Anne said “the wee penguins are adorable”

I also got some novelty candles which change colour, we had a birthday guest at the supper club on Saturday and she was really happy with the surprise of candles and the whole table singing happy birthday. I like the different coloured flames makes it a bit different. Will be filing those away for future use.

Carol Anne also made two treats for me some crystallised ginger and hot pepper sauce. I can confirm the sauce is pretty lively and the ginger tasty. I like that she made me some bits, it’s lovely to have homemade things. I have two things that I’m yet to try from the box one is the trademark of Carol Anne’s blog Black sea Salt and the other is Malt Salt, I’m hoping to find a recipe soon that I will be able to use them both on, very exciting having some new ingredients.

I’m having to sit out the next foodie penpals as I’m going to be away on a college trip to Wales for a week (which I will blog about as it should be amazing) but I’m sure I’ll really miss getting a lovely parcel and packing up some goodies.

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Allotment & conservation – some new gardening fun

So folks well today I am very happy although knackered, I went out on a conservation task with EFCV on Leyton Flats removing some Silver Birch and encouraging some rare Willow which is growing there. The weather was lovely and we cleared a lot of trees and some pesky Hawthorn. ouch.

Afterwards I went to meet Wyn at Willingale Road Allotments (a lovely Welsh guy) to see about my potential allotment, and it seems we are a go. Considering I only starting investigating this about a month ago, I had been told I was going to have about a 6 month wait but I’m in luck!

There’s a lady who can’t manage her whole plot any more so she’d like someone to take half of it, that suits me fine as a complete novice to allotments it’s all a bit daunting but I think will be a good challenge for me.

I just have to make sure I really manage my time so that I can do it properly with all my other commitments. It’s still a pretty big space I think and will be lovely to serve home grown veggies at the supper club well that’s the dream but we’ll have to see how we do.  Especially as I’m away for most of July will have to get the boyfriend and parents to keep an eye on it . I’m waiting for the lady to clear the area of her things and some plants and then I’ll start doing some soil tests to see what I’ve got.

I’m hoping to get some tips from other people at the allotments and all my blogging and twitter friends, I’ve already had a book recommendation so I need to check that out.

To be continued…

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