Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Marroni al Liquore

I wish I had better pictures of this, but frankly, the liqueur is sitting in my cupboard in a glass container. It's not exactly photogenic. But, once it has finished curing on December 5th, I'll be sure to post a few shots.

Italian Chestnut (left) and a Korean Chestnut (right)
The Korean chestnuts turned out to be a bit of a dud. I just couldn't get them to peel correctly. They were too moist, really.
Peeling an Italian Chestnut
Right now, I can tell you that I'm loving the vanilla beans suspended in the liquid! Pure heaven, I tells you.
Liquid Gold!
I should warn you, this isn't a full strength liqueur - you do simmer the brandy with the spices for 1 minute.

Marroni al Liquore

(Canadian Living)

Ingredients

1-1/2 1-1/2cups cups(375 mL) (375 mL) granulated sugar  
1cup cup(250 mL) (250 mL) water  
4whole allspice  
2clovecloves  
2bay leafbay leaves  
1half halfvanilla beanvanilla beans, split lengthwise
2-1/2 2-1/2cups cups(625 mL) (625 mL) prepared chestnuts  
1bottle bottlebrandy (750 mls)

Preparation:

In wide saucepan, bring sugar, water, allspice, cloves, bay leaves and vanilla bean to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Stir in chestnuts; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in brandy and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute. Skim off any foam. Discard allspice, cloves, bay leaves and vanilla bean. Using slotted spoon, divide chestnuts among six 1-cup (250 mL) canning jars. Pour syrup over top. Seal jars with lids; let stand in cool dark place for 2 weeks before using. (Make-ahead: Store for up to 2 months.)

4 comments:

Locavore Family said...

I am so making this. By the time we can drink it when the challenge is up (first bit of April), it should taste like heaven.

Oh, check out the new blog I just started, very excited!

Alyson said...

I started following you yesterday! I'm very excited to see how your challenge goes!

It's going to be killer then. I don't know if I'll be able to resist ours for that long!

Locavore Family said...

Thanks for following me, Alyson! I think blogging will keep us accountable. If you know no one notices then it's much easier to cheat.

I will most likely hide the Marroni al Liquore so we're not tempted. Besides, I plan to keep us in good supply of local wine and port and hope that will distract us long enough to get through the challenge!

Alyson said...

I actually used a Niagara brandy for this - it's awful on its own, but as a liqueur, it's really good.

I agree, following people and commenting is kinda what keeps us going. Since I really started this up again in September, it's been a lot of fun. Plus, I've been able to learn lots about my camera.

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