Lemoncello

For those that don't know what it is - its an Italian liquor. Basically its vodka infused with lemons. It is also made with grain alcohol by some, but not by me!

Anyway, I just finished another batch of this and thought I'd put it up here for my friends to enjoy!

Ingredients
10 lemons
1 (750-ml) bottle vodka (I use Grey Goose)
3 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar

Directions
Wash the lemons first and then remove the zest from the lemons being careful not to remove the white pith as that's where all the bitter compounds are. There are a lot of ways to do this, but I use a wood working tool that I bought just for seating and shaving veggies. I use a Stanley 6" Surform Pocket Plane which I picked up from Lowes for under $10. Here is a pic of it: Stanley Pocket Plane

Once you have zested all the lemons, put the zest only in a 2 quart glass jar of some sort and pour in the vodka and cover with plastic wrap. I would only use glass for this. Metal can add funky flavored and may react with the lemon and plastic will pick up flavors. Let this sit at room temp for at least a week (up to two is good as well).

Once the vodka and lemon zest has sat you need to add the simple syrup. Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool this completely and pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let it sit at room temperature overnight.

To get the lemon zest out of the vodka you need to strain it. To do this I use a wire mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth and pour it into another glass container. Once it is strained you need to pour it back into the vodka bottle - but you will need 2 or more bottles as you have doubled the amount of liquid you started with. Just use a small funnel and pour it careful. Refrigerate this for at least 4 hours to get it nice and cold.

This will keep at least 4 months but most likely won't last that long, it's just too yummy! You can try to freeze it but I don't recommend that as the alcohol content has dropped enough that it will most likely freeze and not stay a liquid as straight vodka does. If you started with 100 proof vodka (or grain alcohol) then it shout handle the freezer without actually freezing...

One other thing, after you zest the lemons, don't throw them out, juice them and make Lemonade or freeze the juice to make lemonade in the future. To make outstanding Lemonade follow this recipe I "borrowed" from Paula Dean of Food Network:


Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 gallon cold water
1 lemon, sliced
Mint sprigs, for garnish

Directions
In a 1 gallon container, place sugar and hot water, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water to render 1 gallon. Stir until well mixed. Pour lemonade over glasses of ice, squeeze slice of lemon on top of each, and garnish with a sprig of mint.