Only_Oli (The O_Zone)

I am making some Limoncello after our ski trip at Anne and Louis-Carl in Montgenevre, close to Turin. Anne had made some very nice Limoncello and I asked for the recipe, which she kindly shared.

The recipe is very easy, essentially leave some lemon peels in alcohol for a few weeks and then dilute them with sugar syrup.

However, if you do a bit or research online most “British” recipes recommend using a simple basic Vodka as the alcohol (40% proof). In comparison, the traditional Italian recipe uses a lot stronger grain alcohol at 70% or even 90% proof. I found a source of Grain alcohol in the UK and am in the process of making some homemade Limoncello. The cost of the alcohol is ridiculous compared to what I would have to pay in France or Italy for the same product but I did not want to compromise on my first batch…

I will probably buy some “fruit alcohol” in bulk next time I visit France. I am suspicious that the 70% proof alcohol is unavailable in most supermarkets because of the health risk for anybody to drink it pure and suffers an ethylic coma.

Ingredients:

• 5 unwaxed Lemons + 2 unwaxed Limes
• A bottle of Grain 70% Alcohol (70cl). (Italians use 90%…)
• 750 sugar
• 700 ml water (note Anne’s recipe calls for more water which I assume is to compensate for the higher % of alcohol used)
• A lime juice

How to make:

• Zest/Peel the Lemons, making sure you do not take any of the white of the lemon peels. A Little bit is ok, but try to avoid it as it will give a bitter taste to the Limoncello.
• Put the peels and the alcohol in a tight-fitting jar and leave to macerate for one week, shaking the jar daily to stir the mixture.
• this is were I got to so far….
• next will be making a syrup with 700ml of boiling water and 750g of sugar. Then mix it all together with lemon peels and alcohol and leave for another week.
• Strain and put into nice bottles
• …

I want to make some and want to save the recipe here…

Ingredients :

• 500g of Mindec Pork
• 100 g of Pancetta
• Fresh Sage
• 2 sheets of puff pastry
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 150g breadcrums
• One egg
• 1 egg for sealing the rolls and sesame seeds for decoration

How to make:

• Mix all the ingredients.
• Make sausage shaped rolls with the mixture
• Un roll puff pastry and cut into 4 squares
• Place meat mixture in the middle of the Puff pastry, in the shape of a log
• Make rolls with puff pastry using a beaten egg as glue
• Cut to smaller size if that is what you are aiming for
• brush top with beaten egg and sprinkle sesame seeds
• Cook in pre-heated oven at 180 celsius for about 20-30 minutes depending colour you want to achieve.

Blueberry jam is a lot nicer if you make it yourself at home. I use only 44% sugar and juice of 2 limes to enhance the flavour. I filter the skins to make a jelly-like jam which

I enjoy most with freshly baked bread or American pancakes…

Ingredients :

• 500g of Blueberries
• 400g of Jam sugar (but plain sugar works as well)
• 2 Limes

How to make:

• Simply heat all the ingredients until they come to a strong boil.
• Monitor the temperature until it reaches 110 degrees Celsius. (this is the temperature required to get a Jam, do not go too much above this, or you will get candy sauce…)
• Crush the skins of the blueberries to extract as much of the taste as possible. I use a potato muncher.
• Filter the jam through a “fine chinois” and then transfer it into Jam jars.
• Let it cool and put it into the fridge until the next day.
• It will keep for months if you seal it properly. (sterilise the Jars)

Super simple to do and is a perfect winter dish.

Ingredients :

• 2 Duck Legs
• Appprox 750ml or up to 1L of Duck Fat. (In the butter aisle in the supermarket)
• Salt + Pepper

How to Make :

• Simmer the duck until the meat starts to fall off the bone. This will take about 90 minutes in the duck fat.
• keep the temperature of the fat below 110 degrees Celsius. you don’t want to deep-fry the duck, but slow cook it and turn it into confit.
• Season before and after cooking to taste.
• Serve with new potatoes and salad or some butter beans with Garlic and tomato puree. use some of the fat from the duck cooking to use with the beans or the potatoes.

I am having a go at making some rustic terrine this weekend.

Ingredients :

• 500g Minced Porc or Shoulder that you mince yourself.
• 500g Porc liver.
• 500g Pork Belly.
• 250g Pancetta or Smoked bacon
• 3 eggs
• 3 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped
• 60g or 2 medium-sized finely chopped Shallots
• 6g Pepper
• 20g Salt
• A little bit of fresh or dried Thyme
• A double shot of Cognac or Armaniac or Port.

How to Make :

• Mince all the meat on a coarse setting or cut finely with a knife
• In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, spices, garlic and shallots
• Mix eggs and meat until you obtain a homogenous mixture

• Make sure the conserve jars are sterilised. (I steam mine for 5 to 10 minutes)
• Put the mixture in conserved jars.
• Cook in the oven at 130 degrees celsius until the temperature of the middle of the jar meat is 71 degrees Celsius.
• The small jars will be ready before the large ones so take them out of the oven when they reach 71 degrees celsius.
• Take them out of the oven and let them cool.
• Put into the fridge for 24 hours before eating.

[Update 2023]

This continues to be a favourite recipe. I should do this more often and throughout the year. I bought some Kilner Jars for the new 23′ edition.

I decided to do a few pickled onions for winter. Soon I will make some slow-cooked lard to go with it…As I was at my mum’s during Xmas, she did some pickled beetroots and it was very nice with some salads and cheese. She had done some Red beetroot and some Yellow beetroot. I have not researched the yellow beetroot in the UK so I have no idea if it is actually a beetroot or another vegetable. [update] Here for golden beetroot.

In any case, I decided to do my pickled onions like every year but also try the beetroot. I decided to cook mine a little so that it would be a bit softer than the one that my mum did. (she had them raw in vinegar and it was very crunchy).

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 Raw beetroot
• Pickling Spices (see below)
• Aluminium foil
• 6 sugar cubes
• Malt Vinegar (pickling vinegar)

I decided I would cook mine in the oven in some aluminium foil. I simply put the clean but unpeeled beetroot in the oven at 160 degrees for 30 minutes.

As the beetroot is roasting, I prepared the vinegar. I took some pickling spices (Ginger, Coriander Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Crushed Red Chillies, Bay Leaves, Allspice, Black Peppercorn). I first put the spices in a saucepan and let them roast for a minute or so. The smell is intense, then you pour the vinegar on top with the sugar and let it boil for a few minutes. Let it cool down as you wait for the end of the cooking of the beetroot.

Once the beetroots have roasted. I  took them out of their foil and peeled them. Be careful of your clothes as the red of the juice will stain big time!

Cut the beetroot in medium-sized chunks and put into a conserve jar. Remember to sterilise the jars before putting any food into them. Don’t want to be sick! It is easy, simply put a bit of water in them (like a centimetre) and then put into the microwave for a couple of minutes, it will zap anything nasty. Then, pour the vinegar on top and make sure that the vinegar is covering all of the vegetables. Close the jar and wait for a couple of weeks before starting to eat. Put a label on the jar so that you know when you made them. You can keep over winter and use in the summer if you wish.

Enjoy!

[2020 Update] I keep making these every year…here is a couple of pictures of the 2020 version.

UPDATE : This is similar but different to the other Duck Meat Loaf I do.
This one is more “classic” as it is with porc.
The other one can be found here!

I decided to make a few classics for the weekend as my brother’s family is coming for lunch on Sunday…digging out a few old recipes…

I will make a chicken liver pate, some roasted belly porc, a duck terrine, some bread, pickled shallots and most likely we will try the “Coppa” which has been drying in the garage for almost 2 months now…

As an adjustment to the recipe below, today in 2023, I would use a thermometer to adjust the cooking time to reach a “pink” but cooked colour for the final product.

The below was first published on 15th July 2021.

Oli's Duck Terrine :

2 Duck Magrets
250g of minced pork
125g of pancetta or bacon cubes
1 egg (yellow and white)

parsley bunch
thyme
salt (very little if you use more bacon)
mixed black and pink pepper (for the flavour)
nutmeg (grated)
cayenne pepper (for the bite)

Oli's secret incredients (!)
2 "screw tops" of Red Martini (sweet taste)
2 or 3 "TUC" biscuits crushed into powder (salty breadcrumb substitute)

Preparation:
Skin the 2 magrets (pull hard) and keep skins
mince the magrets with "small" setting on kenwood mincer
stir everything including the egg in the kenwood (with the Hook paddle)
you should get a fairly moist loaf.

Baking:
line a terrine with the magret skins (on the sides only)
fill the meat loaf in the terrine
put a twig of thyme or two on top
tiny bit of salt and pepper on top

bake in oven for 1 hour on 160C. this will sort of slow cook it.
bake further for 20/30 minutes a 200c. this will brown the top.
This second phase of 
baking is where you decide how "pink"/dry the terrine will be at the end.

take out of oven once cooked.
let cool down
put in fridge overnight/until next day.

Serve with toasted bread and pickled shallots/gerkins
Goes nice with Rhone Valley rustic wine...

Enjoy.