For Lana in FL and her sweet husband: Citron Vodka used in a cocktail

M

marilynfl

Moderator
From "Saving the Season" by Kevin West

Buddha's Hand, a variant of citron, is such a funny looking fruit. Or is it a vegetable? I'll ask Wiki. Anyway, I'd only seen it diced and candied in those autumnal stacks of neon-colored candied fruits and thought it was the french word for "lemon." Apparently I made that assumption after watching too many French films where the hero drives around in one of those cute Citron car with the round edges. I finally realized there was a difference after seeing a container of candied lemon next to a container of candied citron.

Ah.

Anyway, Lana wrote that her husband loved citron and so this is for him. And for her, because I suspect she will get a big kiss if she makes this for him.

6 fingers of fresh citron (~2" each)

750 ml bottle of good vodka

Cut fingers away from base of citron and split lengthwise. Pour off a few TBL of vodka and shove fingers into the bottle. Allow to infuse for at least a week.

Greenvalley Scratch Cocktail

1 oz Calvados

1 oz Citron vodka

3/4 oz Orgeat

1 oz Grenadine

Shake with ice for 20 seconds, then strain into chilled glass.

PS: I've linked an article that shows both the lemon-y looking version and the fingered (Buddha's hand) version.

PPS: Oh, and it's a fruit.

PPPS: After reading this, I don't feel so bad about being confused:

"The dignified citron suffers a perpetual identity crisis, almost a kind of botanical identity theft inflicted by its distant cousin, the humble lemon. There seem to be two reasons for this. In certain languages, such as French, citron refers to the lemon, while the fruit of certain citron varieties resembles a lemon and has a rather similar taste. In French, citron is cédrat. The citron is viewed by many as eccentric, even esoteric, all but unknown."

http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art355.htm

 
That looks amazing, Marilyn! Thank you!

I can get Buddha's hand citrons here in the fall, at Fresh Market and Whole Foods, though I've never found a regular shaped one. One year I made candied citron from it, which was quite successful, so the next year, I tried to up my game and make glace citron, as I buy it at enormous expense from Kalyustan's for the Christmas cake. All I will say is that it was not successful. Not At All.

DH will love this idea! He will probably also use it in his special poncha, a punch made from several types of citrus, vodka and sugar. Thank you!

 
You're very welcome, Lana. This is a lovely book and he includes recipes for

the orgeat and the grenadine. Let me know if you want them before this goes back to library

(it's a 3-week loan so no rush.)

 
Here you go, Lana: Orgeat from *Saving the Season* by Kevin West, master canner from CA

This is really quite a beautifully photographed and informative book. I don't can to preserve...well, I try to can and fail miserably at it, but I'm starting to become a non-canning groupie for this guy.

Info from his introduction to this item:
pronounced: "or-zhat"
Can be used in Mai Tai, variant of eggnogs, and related to the Hispanic's world's "horchata."

He has three full pages of scientific details discussing almond kernels (aka bitter almonds) and their link to cyanide. It's a fascinating read, but then I've been listening to a book called "The Disappearing Spoon" which details all the elements in the periodic table. It's rife with intrigue, murder and villainy. Ya, recipes and poisonous earth elements...that's my bed time stories.

For any of his recipes, he says you can leave out the pits, but his conclusion is that eating almond pits that have been cooked in a jam do not pose a health risk. However, he urges the reader to make their own informed decision about whether to use it.

Makes 1 QT:
2 pounds apricot pits, to yield 1/4 C apricot kernels (see Note)
1/2 pound raw almonds with skin
2.25 C hot water (~180 degrees; this is used IN the recipe)
6 fresh or dried geranium leaves (see Note)
1 C bottled water
2.25 C sugar
10 drops (1/8 tsp) orange flower water
Optional: 1 TBL brandy

1. Crack the apricot pits with nutcracker and remove the kernels. Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, lift out and remove to drain. Save water.

2. Blanch almonds in same water for 30 seconds. Drain. Peel the kernels and almonds by rubbing together with your hands. The meat will pop out of the skin.

3. Roughly chop the kernels and almonds. Seal a handful of this in a heavy plastic freezer bag, lay the bag on a cutting board and pound with rolling pin or heavy pan until mashed into meal. Continue until all are meal.

4. Place the nut meal in a sauce pan, cover with 2.25 cups of the hot water. Steep for 15 minutes and then strain through damp jelly bag or double layer of damp cheesecloth. This is now the almond milk. Squeeze the dregs dry and reserve them separately.

5. Return the strained liquid to the saucepan and heat until scalding (tiny bubbles around edges). Do NOT let the liquid reach a full boil. Add the dregs and geranium leaves and steep for another 15 minutes.

6. Strain this through a jelly bag into a large bowl. Wring the dregs in several batches to extract all milk. You should end up with 2 cups of liquid.

6. To this, add bottled water, sugar, orange flower water and brandy. Stir to dissolve the sugar and pour the liquid into scalded bottles. Store in the refrigerator for up to month. It will separate, so shake well before using.

Note: In place of bitter almond (kernels) add 1/2 tsp of pure almond extract at the end when you add the orange flower water. Also you can use rose water in place of the geranium leaves (add 6-8 drops).

If using food processor to pulverize the nuts, be careful not to reduce them to oily paste (very easy with food processor speed) . Pulse the nuts in small batches, adding a TBL of water to each batch.

Marilyn's Notes: I've summarized a lot of the steps, but still felt the need to emphasis topics where Mr. West emphasized them. Also--bummer--I tried to link his blog site "Saving the Season" but it has been removed. Possibly to ensure the integrity of the hard-bound book?

 
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