Sunday, July 27, 2008
Clams and Beer
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sake Update
After some serious self doubt, I have concluded that the whole process went pretty well for a first try at fermenting. So far, here's what I have learned:
First: Sake definitely is easier to make if you start it in colder months like I was instructed, but then foolishly ignored
Second: I now know that you need something finer than cheese cloth to strain your sake, I had way too much solid in my finished product which wasted as much as a half gallon of sake overall.
Third: Bob Taylor, the sake guru, is a most patient and helpful man. I would have been pretty lost if not for his constant cooperation in my endeavor. Cheers to him and his excellent blog. Thanks Bob!
Fourth: I think the most enjoyable sake was the unpasteurized sake right out of the fermenter. It had a very light fresh taste with hints of vanilla, coconut, and flowers. After it was pasteurized, the fresh flowery taste disappeared.
Fifth: Now, my sake seems to be better if it is opened and allowed to breath for a day before drinking. The flavor mellows a bit and loses its sharper overtones. It is very full-flavored robust sake. It has a dry finish which I like, but there's fruity, almost acid quality I am not so sure about. Perhaps I should age it some more? Bob, any thoughts on this?
So there you have it! I think I am going to take a bottle and save it for a couple more months to see if the taste improves any. Perhaps by then, Geof and Carla will be brave enough to revisit Sue's sake and give me another review? Perhaps they could even come up with a name for it like those really fancy sakes have like, "Misty Maiden's Folly" or perhaps "Wandering Lunatic" or even "Drunken Deer". But seriously, I really enjoyed making sake, and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
More From Lady Pilsner on Walnut Liqueur
I had almost forgotten about Nocino or, in Czech, Orechovka or in plain English, walnut liqueur. My friend (also American, also here in E. Bohemia but with years in Italy behind her) reminded me of it when I was at her house last week, but I forgot about it until today, a good 2+ weeks late. The trick to Nocino is to catch the walnuts when they are still soft enough to eat after being saturated for 2 months in alcohol. Warning! This is not a treat for the faint of heart! I wasn't able to manage perfect timing this year, but I'm sure the Nocino will be fine, though I'm trying to forget this image I have of me gnawing away on those boozy nuts amidst Christmas festivities....
Nocino
1.5 L vodka or slivovice (plum brandy) in my case
30 green walnuts – ideally picked at the end of June – between the 24th and 25th to be precise
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
the cut up rind of one lemon in strips
3 cups of sugar
Quarter the nuts and mix them in a mason jar with all the remaining ingredients. Place the mason jar in a warm place and let sit for 2 months. Filter and bottle. Age for 6 months in a cool dark place.
The Czech recipe I found is surprisingly similar – they substitute “5 circles of orange rind in sugar” for the lemon rind and halve the amount of cloves and cinnamon. As to the taste – maybe Ms. Chops can describe it better (she got a bottle for Christmas last year ) – it is definitely not a walnut liqueur on the lines of amaretto. The liqueur is strong and (as I recall) somewhat herbal, and there's definitely bitter mixed in with the sweet. Right now, two days in, my nocino is this inky green tourmaline color, but it turns nearly black with time.
I can't say last year's batch made it past Christmas, so much for the aging 6 months. By its rate of disappearance, it seemed that last year's batch – my first – was a success. I think the toughest customer was a friend's father (and a court psychiatrist at that) who is a strict follower of the Czech/Moravian cult of slivovice. The look of disdain on his face when offered this walnut liqueur was daunting, but after being assured that it was no weak girly drink and was indeed based on slivovice, he managed to down a good couple shots of the stuff.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Not too hot to bake!
Friday, July 11, 2008
More about Elderflowers
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
H&C Tea Totals- And Just In Time For Summer!
Anyhow, Lady Pilsner has decided to brew some ginger beer and share her experience. Which is kind of a coincidence, because just the other day our friend/beer brewing guru told me he takes water, mixes it with lime juice and powdered ginger and then puts it into a keg, carbonates it w/ CO2 and has it on tap in his kitchen. How cool is that? Perhaps someone will come up with a way to merge these two similar and refreshing beverages into one?
"Brewing Ginger Beer" by Lady Pilsner
I've been fascinated by non-alcoholic fermented beverages for a while, and finally managed to inspire myself to make a "traditional" ginger beer. Maybe it was my friend (whose grandmother is an herbalist) mentioning that she makes this type of beverage from elder flower each year when they are in season, maybe it was that I finally had the idea at the same time I had the available ingredients. Anyway, I decided to save my dried elder flowers for tea, and dug into my Nourishing Traditions cookbook for the ginger ale recipe:
3 / 4 c. ginger peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 / 2 c. fresh lime juice
1 /4 – 1 / 2 c. sucanat (I used regular sugar)
2 tsp. sea salt
1 / 4 c. whey
2 qts. filtered water
Combine, cover tightly, and leave at room temperature for 2 days. Filter and serve 1:1 with sparkling water.
Combine, cover tightly, and leave at room temperature for 2 days. Filter and serve 1:1 with sparkling water.
I ended up making approx. 2/3 the recipe b/c it fits nicely into our 1.5 L drink bottles, using a little less ginger (reason - husband) and lime juice (reason – no more limes) than recommended. It was ready today and, even though I didn't have the sparkling water, I was surprised that you do get to taste the fizz even 1:1 with tap water.
Czech beverage manufacturers, who have recently introduced "gently carbonated" waters would be jealous of my ginger beer. It definitely had more of a "buzz" or "fizz" than actual harsh bubbles. I might lessen the salt next time, but, even with the weird saltiness, I quite liked it. And just think how utterly healthy it is! As I understand it, the whey and salt change the type of fermentation from the traditional alcohol-producing one to a lactic-acid producing one, so without them, the drink would be slightly alcoholic. Next time, I may try it without the salt.
After leaving it a few more days I think the salt flavor subsided as the drink "aged" - Now, a few days later, the taste is better than it was the first day.
I've also been trying to find a tried and true Czech recipe for the elderflower drink, but had to resort to the internet because my two sources haven't come through yet. I haven't tried this recipe myself, though I may try it with my dried elder flowers or just wait for next year.
Elder Flower "Soda"
4 quarts water
4 elder flower florets
1 lemon
350-400 g sugar
1 / 2 tsp. yeast (this is pressed cake yeast, I think it would be about 1/3 tsp. dry yeast)
Boil the water, pour into a 5 quart container, mix the sugar into the hot water, squeeze the lemon into the container, then cut up the rest of the lemon into rings and add to the mix. When the water is luke warm, add the yeast and flowers and mix well. After 24 hrs, filter into bottles and refrigerate.
And P.S.-
I just have one last question for the illustrious Lady Pilsner. What in tarnation does an elder flower taste like? Hopefully not elders....