Food is Good

This Christmas, She and I decided to exchange self-made gifts. You know the drill: make, bake, grow, sew, and the like. We both had fun, learned new skills, and thought that it was a really positive experience all around (and, unlike traditional Christmas gifting, we generated net positive utils!)

Body Scrubs and Cuff Links–amazing and unexpected gifts from She. We had discussed creating our own scrubs before, but never acted on it. But the cuff links? Out of left field and very, very cool. I wondered why the bedroom smelled of epoxy and guessed that She was not huffing, but I really had no idea of the craftiness that lurks within. Clearly She has much in common with her very cool g-Aunt Alva–bodes well, m’thinks.

What of my gifts? Well, I did not venture nearly as far from my comfort zone. (She clearly upped the ante for our next gifts!)

First up, candied citrus:

4x Blanched grapefruit peals (pith OK, because you boil and then replace water & repeat 4 times)

Meyer lemon zest strips (sans pith)

Orange peals (sans pith)

Add to a simmering simple syrup solution until well coated (circa 10 minutes), let dry on parchment paper (or drying racks, though it’ll create a bit of a mess)

On a couple of batches, I added in some ginger and some saffron to produce a bit more heat. I also coated a few other batches in a thin layer of chocolate.

Delightful with espresso, or as a quick perk-me-up.

Truffles

Mostly dark chocolate, but for a few I went with a ganache. . . But, you ask me: what about the cream? How on earth did you work with the lactose?

Very simply: silken tofu, whipped in the blender (it would have been slightly preferable to use beaters). Sure, I didn’t up the fat content much, but I lightened the flavor significantly. I’ll need to look into the chemistry later.

I used raspberries, Meyer lemons, saffron,  turbinado sugar, ginger, and whole vanilla beans at various points to make these She-worthy treats.

Cookies

Perfumed Meyer Lemon (with Chocolate coating), and other tasty treats awaited Her.

Homemade Gin & Vodka

NOTE: NOT BATHTUB GIN. Bathtub Gin, moonshine, or otherwise home-distilled, potable beverages are illegal, and distilling them is a felony. A tax code felony, mind you, but a felony nonetheless.

NOTE #2: Her two-year old brother found the word Gin fascinating. He wanted to know what Gin was. Am excited (though I told him it was a card game).

I made gin & vodka for She, and owe a deep gratitude to Fred Sarkis (for the initial idea), the wonderful manager of Mediterraneo (whose name escapes me, but offered me my first taste of homemade Gin), and Jeffrey Morgenthaler (whose blog provided guidance regarding proportions, timing, and other practical considerations).

Step One: Prepare the Grain Alcohol

The platonic idea of Vodka is basically flavorless grain alcohol, diluted to ~70 proof. Gin is essentially vodka with a good dose of juniper berries (while alcohol content varies, Bombay rates 86 proof). But <90 proof seems inefficient. The Brits maintained an empire through cask strength booze–I decided to do the same.

I took my handle of Everclear (190 proof, the most alcoholic beverage that can be produced through distillation–and leftover from my earlier bitters & vodka experiments) & refined it in a fresh Brita filter about 5 times. Insodoing, I hoped to remove the distasteful impurities that haunted many a college party (especially those involving my friend Beek).

Step Two Cut & Measure (3 variations):

~375 ml grain alcohol into freshly sanitized ball jar +

Lemon Vodka:

5 grams vanilla bean (1 bean)

3 grams ginger

10 grams Meyer lemon zest

<1 gram saffron threads

Classic Dry Gin:

18 grams juniper berries

4 grams cinnamon stick

1 gram star anise seed

1 gram pink peppercorn

~.5 grams coriander

~.5 grams cloves

~.5 grams cardamom

Perfect Negroni Gin

15 grams juniper berries

16 grams Meyer lemon zest

10 grams orange zest

2 grams grapefruit zest

1 gram cardamon

4 grams cinnamon

4 grams corriander

Step Three: Patient Infusing:

On each of the next six days, I shook the bottles once to separate the ingredients and mix the liquids. I didn’t want to repeat the mushiness and flavor muddling of my previous vodka experiment (which was a 2-3 week infusion).

On the sixth day, I separated the dry from the wet with a funnel and a mesh screen. I then ran each bottle through the Brita at least 5 times. After the last run, I would add ~50 ml purified water to ensure that I got as much of the product into the jar as possible (and slightly diluted the end result. Given the final amount of bottled liquid & guessing as to the amounts absorbed by the ingredients and left in the filter, I estimate that each jar at approximately 168 proof).

To keep the end results as pure as possible, in between each bottling, I ran water through the Brita until I could no longer taste the prior infusion: ~2.5 liters of water. In the future, I will work on how to minimize this lost water (flavored ice for each bottle?)

I sealed the new mason jars, wrote christmas labels on each, and wrapped them for Her.

The First Test:

On our last night in Oxford, I made Her and her family Meyer lemon drops. Not being big drinkers, I wanted to make sure that they were sufficiently sweet

7 parts water

3 parts mason-jar Meyer lemon vodka

2 parts fresh Meyer lemon juice

1 part simple syrup (or to taste)

Shake with a lot of ice (to water down further, again: not big drinkers)

garnish chilled glasses with Meyer lemon twist & pour

Result? Everyone was very happy, though they were surprised about how little alcohol they could taste in the drinks.