# The SBHonline Community Daily > Restaurants Wine & Food Off The Island >  >  What to do with lemons

## SBHgirl

I had to pick my lemons, so what can I do with them?  Any one have a lemon tart recepe?

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## MIke R

Wendi has an awesome lemon bar recipe but its at the house and we arent there tonight...but if you can wait a few days?

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## Rosemary

SBHgirl-
is this when you usually pick or is this weather related?  I am curious.

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## SBHgirl

Mike please give the recepe when you can.  Rosemary.  I try to pick the fruit before it freezes   . It is going to get cold around here but I picked most of the fruit last week.  I left a few on the tree as an experiment.

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## KevinS

Limoncello?

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## GramChop

Definitely - limoncello!

Yields 7 cups of heaven:

10 lemons
750 ml Vodka
3 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar

Remove the peel from the lemons with a peeler. (Use the actual lemons for another recipe). Trim away the white pith from the peels and trash the pith.  Put the lemon peels in a pitcher (2 qt) along with the Vodka. Let that sit for about 4 days at room temperature. 

Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool completely. Mix the simple syrup and Vodka together. Let it stand overnight at room temperature. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer and throw away the peels. Transfer to pretty bottles and give as Christmas gifts. 

Thank you, Giada, for this, tried and true, recipe!

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## MIke R

really proper Italian Limoncello is made with grain alcohol...not vodka

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## JEK

I think vodka is mostly made of grain.

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## MIke R

mostly yes..good stuff is made from potato....but they don't use vodka in Italy...I watched it being made numerous times in Sicily and it was always an Everclear type of alcohol...lemon zest...water and sugar

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## KevinS

Today I found an old bottle of 190-proof Graves in a long-forgotten packing box.  I wonder if we have any lemons...

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## MIke R

bring it up next week....we can make some!

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## JEK

It's all alcohol distilled from  something or other and the higher the proof the stronger. Some have additives -- juniper berries in gin -- but alcohol is alcohol.

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## MIke R

Lemoncello is an Italian drink....

they don't use Vodka in Italy to make it.....

those are the facts...

make it however it suits you..

I'm just telling you how they make it where it originates from....

FWIW

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## JEK

Where can one find Italian "Everclear"?

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## MIke R

mostly yes..good stuff is made from potato....but they don't use vodka in Italy...I watched it being made numerous times in Sicily and it was always an _Everclear type_ of alcohol...lemon zest...water and sugar


key word is type

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## MIke R

http://www.squidoo.com/homemade-limoncello-recipe

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## JEK

Can't buy Everclear in Virginia.

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## MIke R

Recipe from Ron Carducci. Ron says, "I have relatives in Italy and they make limoncello the same way it is made all through Italy. Additionally, almost without exception, every limoncello I order as an after dinner digestive in ristoranti all over Italy, is made and tastes pretty much the same (I speak Italian and I ask the chefs how it is made and they almost always give me a recipe that varies only slightly from the one I am including below).  It is made with 95% pure grain alcohol, lemons, and simple syrup. That is it! The same is true for arancello. One bonus feature of the legit Italian recipe is that it only takes one week to make. 

Folks from the Amalfi coast that I have spoken with (that's where it originated) tell me that legit limoncello, when you sip it straight, ice cold and without ice (Italians never put ice in their limoncello), should be very lemony, and smooth but have a "jolt" in the middle of it; i.e., a spreading warmth with a friendly kick. Recipes made with vodka, not Everclear Alcohol, are smooth but do not have the jolt. *Plus, the vodka taste is alien to the Italian limoncello taste.* Try this recipe - you'll be pleasantly surprised."

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## MIke R

> Can't buy Everclear in Virginia.




I'll send you some

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## JEK

Would vodka work?

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## MIke R

yes of course it would.....there are many good limoncellos out there  made with vodka...but according to Italians....a pure grain alcohol really lends itself to the lemons and brings the lemon flavor out more....and is a little more edgey....

you will definitely see a difference which you may see as better..or you may see as not....seeing that you take your ti punch without ice...I am betting you would prefer the authentic way

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## andynap

Of course. From DeLaurentis of the Food Netwrk

Limoncello
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis


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

Directions
Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips (reserve the lemons for another use). Using a small sharp knife, trim away the white pith from the lemon peels; discard the pith. Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 4 days at room temperature. 

Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month.

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## GramChop

> Definitely - limoncello!
> 
> Yields 7 cups of heaven:
> 
> 10 lemons
> 750 ml Vodka
> 3 1/2 cups water
> 2 1/2 cups sugar
> 
> ...



Is there an echo in here?

MikeR:  It's Limoncello, not solving the political woes of the country.  Give it a rest, already!

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## MIke R

hey I walked away from the other....

and yes I know its limoncello...my fingers dont know it though.....

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## andynap

Mike's not even Italian.

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## MIke R

oy

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## SBHgirl

Back on topic!  LOL  Mike can you get me the lemon bar recipe?

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## MIke R

yes!/...I just asked Wendi if it was at home and she said yes...we are going out  to the house Saturday....I will post it  late afternoon

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## andynap

> oy




See.

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## cassidain

Arnold Palmer jello shots! 1 box lemon jello, 1 cup of Firefly sweet tea vodka in lieu of the water called for in the jello recipe, 10 lemons. 
 Cut the lemons in half, juice them, pull the pulp and skin out (I did it with my hands, but make sure your hands aren't dry at all or it will burn!) Line the halves up in a cake pan so they're snug. Then make the jello, put the mixture in a measuring cup with a spout for pouring and fill the lemon halves. Refrigerate over night and then slice in half again (with a sharp knife) before serving.

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## Eddie

Make lemonade (isn't that the saying)?

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## MIke R

in essence.....thats what limoncello is....LOL

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## KevinS

A big difference between a grain alcohol base and a Vodka base is the alcohol content of the finished product.

Using Vodka and Missy's recipe will give you Limoncello between 35 and 40 proof.  Using Grain and Missy's recipe will give you Limoncello between 90 and 95 proof.  Big difference.

I remember now what the Grain Alcohol was for.  It was Fun With Science day.  We were attempting to determine at what proof ice sinks, prompted by the acquisition of a bottle of Jack Iron (overproof rum from Carriacou).  There was an opened bottle of Cockspur Old Gold rum in the same packing box, and the dregs of a bottle of Jack Iron.  The answer is fuzzy (ya think?), but it was somewhere north of 100 proof.

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## andynap

The Italians don't use grain alcohol with that proof. Here is a well known Limoncello made in Italy that is 31 proof. http://www.wineglobe.com/cvi-1044-so.html

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## MIke R

the ones I drank in Sicily were high octane....definitely not 31 proof

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## andynap

Sicily? No wonder.

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## Voosh

Good friend of mine from Sicily says - When in Chicago, pick up some EverClear, pound the lemons, introduce juice to the mix, add some salt and let it sit sit for a day. Yummy. Prunes or other fruit can add to the taste of this deadly brew. 

YES. Be careful and use commonsense. One year we had a major LEO here do a total face plant on the driveway after a few. Good thing there was much support around and a quick ride to the nearest hospital. He did OK. I truly hate those moments. 


BTW. I can hold a drink pretty well. Some stuff I have drank in the US and other countries made me wonder why the h*ll I ever opened my mouth. Famous words from Kathy - "So ya feel better now? Sleep in the bathroom. See ya later." Arrngh

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## Dorocke

Those Arnold Palmer jello shots are super cool, Cassidain!!  

My family makes Limoncello every year- with vodka.  My aunt made it one year with Everclear and it was lethal- kicked our butts.  Noone's ever done it since.

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## MIke R

better late than never SBHgirl...

here it is....sorry.....I spaced it

its a simple recipe and they come out really nice

Bottom Crust

1/2 Cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup confec sugar

Topping

2 large eggs
1 Cup organic unbleached white sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoon Flour
a pinch of sea salt

Oven to 350 degrees

cut up softened butter into the flour and sugar and mix and press into a 9 inch baking pan..bake for 20  minutes


combine topping ingredients.....when bottom is done and still hot, pour on top and bake an additional 20 minutes

dust top with confectioner sugar when its cool

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