Friday, June 25, 2021

Green (Black) Walnut Liqueur - Nocino

 

There are so many things to do this time of year.  

I should be distilling elderflowers, or maybe making a folk champagne from them.  St John's wort is blooming and the calendula too.  Don't get me started about all the berries in the back yard that need to be picked at least once a day!

Another interesting thing to try is a liqueur made from unripe walnuts.  It is dark, rich, and often sipped as an after dinner digestif.  Here we are surrounded by black walnuts that have their own distinctive flavor, and they are just about ready, but as you can see, we're still on the last bottle of the 4 we made in 2013.  Aged to perfection. I'll probably wait until next year, but you don't have to! 

There are many recipes for "no-chee-no" and here are two. 

NOCINO RECIPE(S)

20 immature green walnuts, quartered
zest of one orange
1 vanilla bean in 1" pieces
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 liter vodka
Combine the above in glass jar for 4 to 6 weeks.

After that has steeped, make the following simple syrup:
3/4 c water
2 c sugar
(can add a little water if needed to create syrup)

Strain vodka well.  Combine with simple syrup.  
Age at least another 6 weeks.  Better to wait a year.


Using regular walnuts from Liquor.com

(In this case, all ingredients are combined at one time, cutting one of the waiting times.)
1 liter vodka
1 c maple syrup
1 c sugar
3 c toasted and crushed walnuts
zest of 2 oranges
6 cinnamon sticks
8 cloves
2 green cardamon pods, crushed
2 vanilla beans
4 star anises

Combine all ingredients in glass.  Steep for a month.  Strain well.  

There's nothing quite as pleasant as a perfect evening spent on the deck weaving lavender wands and sipping a little nocino.


 

Monday, June 07, 2021

Caprese Wonton Cups - and blog news

 If you follow this blog using Feedburner, that will be discontinued in July 2021.  See the bottom of this post for an alternative (and a treat).

Excerpt from Brunch Celebrations (May/June '21) The Essential Herbal SUBSCRIBE
Alicia Allen

Caprese Wonton Cups
12 wonton wrappers
4 oz cream cheese, softened
¼ c sour cream
2/3 c cooked bacon, chopped fine
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
½ c chopped tomatoes
1/3 c chopped basil
12 small basil leaves
12 center cherry tomato slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crumble bacon. Mix all ingredients except wonton wrappers, sliced tomatoes and whole basil leaves.  Place wonton wrappers in greased muffin tin, one wrapper per cup.  Bake until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.  Cool.  Divide cheese and bacon mixture evenly among the cooked wonton cups.  Cook for 7 to 10 min until heated through.  Cool.  Top with a single basil leaf and cherry tomato slice per cup.

Don't they sound delicious?


Now for the blog followers
, to my knowledge, nothing other than Feedburner is changing as far as I know, but that means you will not be notified of new blogs. 
If you haven't signed up for our free newsletter "Just the Essentials" this would be a good time.  Every couple of weeks I put together a small and timely sampling of what one might find in the magazine.  There's usually something medicinal, something culinary, and something fun and seasonal. To keep it interesting, we add a special sale from time to time.  

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