Lemon Cordial

This recipe was shown to me by Deirdre Baum from Victoria, Australia.  I spent three weeks woofing on their farm and learned quite a lot of nice recipes.  Cordial is a type of concentrated juice that you mix with water to make refreshing drinks.  Since I got the recipe in Australia the measurements are in metric.

2 kg --- Castor sugar   (Very fine sugar.  You can use household sugar as well)
1 liter --- Water
2 tablespoons --- Citric acid   (Can be picked up at grocery store in baking section)
2 tablespoons --- Tartaric acid  (Can be picked up at grocery store in baking section)
Juice of 6 lemons, strained   (Remove seeds.  A little pulp is ok)
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Dissolve sugar in water over heat in a non-reactive stockpot (not a metal pot since the acids will erode the metal.  we used a porcelain cast iron pot).  When the sugar is fully dissolved in the water add the tartaric and citric acid and remove from heat.  Let cool and than add juice and zest.  You can now bottle the cordial for later use.

You can make the cordial even better by mixing it with mint leaves and soda water to get that little sparkle.

Strawberry Sorbet

 We got a bunch of strawberries from our neighbors here at Laharum Grove so we set out to make some delicious, fresh Strawberry Sorbet with them.  If you would like to make the Strawberry Sorbet you will need:

375ml (1 1/2 cups) -- Cold water
500g (1 lb 2 oz) -- Fresh Strawberries Hulled (remove the green from the strawberry)
180g (6 1/2 oz) -- Sugar
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 -- Long strip of lemon peel with no pith
4 tablespoons -- Milk

Puree the strawberries in a blender or processor until they are completely smooth and set aside.  Put the sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel in a pan with water and bring to a boil.  stir and boil just long enough to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from heat and leave to cool for 10 min or until room temp.  remove the lemon peel and pour the sugar water into the strawberry puree.  Add the milk and place in ice cream mixer.  When sorbet becomes semi firm remove from mixer and serve or place in freezer for later enjoyment.

Lemocino

A wonderful alcoholic drink that can be made with any citrus fruit.  Lemocino originated in Italy made with 90% proof alcohol, but it can be made with simple vodka, which is what we did.

Ingrediants:

10 lemons
1 liter of 90% proof alcohol (or cheep vodka)
1 liter of water
400 grams sugar

Peel your 10 lemons (6-8 oranges, 8-10 mandarins) make sure to peel without the pith.  I used a apple peeler which worked well.  Place the peels in the alcohol and let sit for 10 days.  After 10 days strain peels from alcohol.  Mix water and sugar over low heat until sugar is fully dissolved in the water, than let cool.  Add sugar water to alcohol and let stand for approximately one month.  Before you drink, place the bottle in the freezer and serve out of the freezer for best effect.

**If you allow the skins to remain in the alcohol too long, the final lemoncino will be cloudy rather than a golden clear.