Fresh Mint Liqueur - From My Most Favorite Cookbook!

I reserve the last post of the year for one of my most favorite recipes.  This time I want to profile one of my most favorite cookbooks.  I realized while making one of its recipes that I have used it regularly for more than 20 years and have never been disappointed.  I've shared it with friends, talked about it with others, and tried a variety of its recipes.  That makes it long overdue for highlighting on my blog.

The book is Classic Liqueurs, The Art of Making and Cooking with Liqueurs by Cheryl Long and Heather Kibbey.  I came across it one day while traveling:  I needed a break from driving and saw a large tent sale of some kind in a parking lot.  What I discovered was a used book sale which was, of course, heaven!  This book just asked to go home with me, and I am so glad it did.

ISBN 0-914667-11-4

Mine is the 1990 edition, and I know there have been other editions since then.  The description on the back cover says it all:

The books tells, simply and exactly, how to make the world's most famous liqueurs as well as exquisite fruit liqueurs in the home kitchen. ... Their easy and natural approach results in high-quality liqueurs.

The chapters include the basics of liqueur making, making fruit liqueurs, and making non-fruit liqueurs, serving and mixing liqueurs, and cooking with liqueurs.  The authors' backgrounds include being a food consultant, an editor of restaurant magazines, teachers of cooking classes, and a food columnist. 

A liqueur consists of three basic ingredients:  alcohol, sugar, and flavoring.  (Although they list "alcohol, water, and flavorings" because they discuss how water quality varies and can influence the liqueur's final result.  Sugar is important, so I include it.)  The alcohols that I've used are vodka and brandy, but you can use other types like pure grain alcohol, cognac, whiskey, scotch, and rum.  

The flavorings vary between fresh and dried fruits, fruit peels, seeds, herbs, and spices.  They recommend other ingredients to adjust the body and smoothness of the liqueur, none of which I have ever used.  

Something you have to know about making liqueurs:  they require a lot of patience.  Quite often they are quick and easy to assemble (like the recipe I describe below) but then you have to wait, often for weeks, while the flavors infuse into the liquid.  After that, you have to wait for months for the liqueur to age.  Planning ahead if you are considering liqueurs as gifts is crucial.  

But oh, it is worth it.  Aging brings a smoothness to the flavor and the mouthfeel.  The taste sensations go from "good" to "sublime."  And while the authors mention that most recipes reach their peak flavor after a year of aging and hold that for up to three years, I have tried my liqueurs after they aged for a decade or more and still found them to be wonderful.  

One aspect of liqueur making that I love as compared to making wine or beer is how little space and equipment you need.  Long and Kibbey's recipes make small batches (which are easily doubled), so I have a few repurposed glass jars which easily tuck onto a shelf in a cupboard to be ignored while the required infusing and aging times are passing.  I have some cloth bags that I use for filtering and some metal mesh sieves that are in my kitchen for other purposes.  The items that take up the most space are the bottles needed for gift-giving.  I noticed I tend to hoard these, but still they don't take up much room in my storage areas.  I suppose if I wanted to make a lot of liqueurs at once I might be pressed for space, but it has never been an issue.  

The only complaint I have had with making small batches is that if a liqueur turns out to be quite exquisite, you only have a small amount of it.  Of course, that makes it even more precious!

The overall concept of liqueur making is simple:  infuse the flavors into the water and alcohol liquid (sometimes sugar is added at this time and sometimes later), strain out the solids, and finally, let the mixture age.  I recommend putting notes into a calendar to remind you when to check on them and move to the next stage.  I also put notes on the container, like the name and the starting/ending dates -- one friend writes the entire recipe she used as part of her container notes, which I think is an excellent idea.  The cupboard should be one that is dark, cool, and out of the way.

Once you understand these basics and have tried some recipes, you can confidently try your own combinations.  They didn't always turn out how I envisioned them, but they have always produced a liqueur that was worth drinking.  I've used fruits like loquats and mulberries, and fruit blends like guavas-and-limes and guavas-and-cranberries.  I've tossed in spices that I thought would go well with a particular fruit.  I currently have a fig leaf liqueur aging.  Once I had a large volume of maraschino cherry juice that I mixed with vodka and a little sugar.  My guest tasters liked it but suggested it needed something more to make it "just right."  One taster figured it out:  a little bit of almond extract did the trick.  

The recipe I want to share with you is a repeat of one I made in 2002 that turned out to be wonderful:  Fresh Mint Liqueur on page 54.

1 1/4 cups fresh mint leaves, slightly packed

3 cups vodka

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon glycerine*

8 drops green food coloring*

2 drops blue food coloring*

*I skipped these ingredients.

The mint variety is an important choice.

Wash leaves in cold water several times.  Shake or pat dry gently.  Snip each leaf in half or thirds; discard stems.  Measure cut mint leaves, packing gently.

Combine mint leaves and vodka in aging container.  Cap and let stand in a cool place for 2 weeks, shaking occasionally.

After the initial aging, pour liqueur through colander into a large bowl to remove the leaves; discard leaves.

In a saucepan, combine sugar and water.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Let cool.  Add cooled sugar syrup to mint liqueur base, stirring to combine.  Add glycerine and food color; pour into aging container for secondary aging of 1 to 3 more months.

My Notes

Mint comes in a wide variety of flavors, so if you have the opportunity to choose, consider what you really like about mint.  The first time I made it, I used a variety called chocolate mint (the stems are brownish), which has a mint flavor without the bite of spearmint or peppermint.  I really like that its mint flavor seems deeper, too.  I still have chocolate mint in my yard, so that is what I used here.  Timing is important, too, when using home-grown herbs.  I think spring or early summer is a good time to harvest them.

This is a single batch of the liqueur base:

Clamp lid, "lightning lid", jars are wonderful for this.

So I doubled it:

This is after the initial infusion period.  Notice how the color has changed, and the batch has a lovely mint scent:

This is filtered:

Making the sugar syrup:

In the beginning

Boiling and getting ready to cool.

I have never felt the need to add food coloring to my liqueurs.  I like them just the way they are.  Also, I have never used glycerine.  At first because I just couldn't find it in the stores; later, I felt that the sugar syrups usually give a good mouthfeel.  If they don't, I add a little more sugar, and that fixes the problem.

And here it is in its aging container.  The date is when the final aging began, not the initial infusing.

Planning in June for a December post.

The Verdict

The first time I made this I was new at liqueur-making, and I was astonished and pleased with the result.  The best way to describe the flavor is:  like drinking a candy cane with a kick!  Sweet (but not too sweet), minty in a wonderful way, and then the warmth of the alcohol washes over you.  It was one of the exquisite liqueurs I have made over the years.

So having a large amount of chocolate mint growing in my yard inspired me to try it again.  Doubling the recipe was my choice because of how good I expected it to be.

A close-up of the color with no food coloring added.

Liqueurs are for small quantities that are sipped and appreciated.

After about 5 months of aging, I tasted it.  It was minty without a bite, sweet but not too much so, a good mouthfeel, and reasonably smooth.  I think all of it will improve with more aging.  The double batch made almost 1/2 gallon, which will last me a long time unless I start giving it away.  Christmas is soon, so I just might.  There is plenty to share!

Success, again.  So far it is not at the epic level the first attempt was, but time may change that.  

Others of Long and Kibbey's recipes I've tried are:  apricot, lemon, peach, plum, taboo (citrus and vanilla, one of the epic liqueurs), and crème de cacao (but with cocoa powder, not the liquid chocolate they suggest).  I've also used their recipes as inspiration for other fruits, herbs, and spices in liqueurs.

Zīrbāj with Quince -- a Medieval Chicken Stew

I was out driving one day and passed a farm stand selling, among many other things, quinces and pumpkins.  The pumpkins were an edible variety, so I purchased one to make another batch of the Pumpkin Tian.  (Click here for the post.  This time I included zucchini, onions, and corn.  It, too, was good.)

I knew I wanted to do something with quinces, but I really didn't want to make candied quince, quince paste, or any other "usual" recipe involving quinces and great quantities of sugar.

This book, Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World by Lilia Zaouali, offered up an intriguing choice:  a meat and fruit stew that included quinces, apples, and jujubes.  I happened to have all three available, and I chose chicken as my meat.

ISBN 978-0-520-26174-7

The recipe is on page 80; it is number 19 in the Sweet-and-Sour Dishes chapter.

Zīrbāj with Quince

Take some cooked meat, add some coarsely crushed chickpeas, and cook [some more]; then add the broth of the meat, vinegar, honey or sugar, some saffron, some quinces [cut] into pieces, and some new apples, also cut into pieces.  If you like, [put in] some peeled almonds and some jujubes, or else pistachios and mint.  Let thicken over fire and serve.

Another version:  follow the same procedure, with a little starch to thicken [the sauce]; the color remains yellow.

My Redaction

1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, skinned

1/3 cup dried garbanzo beans

3 quinces

2 apples

12 dried jujubes

1/2 cup chopped almonds

3 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon saffron

Since the recipe called for cooked meat to start, I put the chicken thighs in water (about 1/2 way up the sides) and simmered them for 20 minutes.  The pan was covered.

In the meantime, I needed to crush the garbanzo beans.  My first thought was to use a mortar and pestle, but that resulted in beans flying all over the kitchen.  (!)  So I turned to my coffee grinder that is not allowed to touch coffee beans, and it did a good job.

Before

After

The recipe didn't specify if the beans were to be dried or cooked, so after I ground them, I soaked them in 1/2 cup hot water while the chicken was cooking.  

When the chicken was done, I deboned it.

I changed the procedure a little at this point.  I was concerned about cooking the beans with just the meat -- it didn't seem like enough water for them.  So I mixed the beans and their water with the deboned meat and its water, simmering for another 10 minutes, covered.

While this was cooking, I cut the quinces and apples into bite-sized pieces.  They went into a bigger pan.  Then I added the chicken/bean mix along with the jujubes, almonds, saffron, honey, and vinegar.

After mixing them well, I thought the liquid level was too low, so I added a little bit more water.

I set the fire to very low and simmered the mixture for 45 minutes covered and another 45 minutes uncovered.

At this point it was thick, the fruit was soft, and I thought it was ready to go.

The Verdict

My guest taster and I had just the stew for dinner.

Garnished with chopped almonds

We liked the flavor:  meaty and fruity, savory and sweet.  The jujubes added an element of bitter (warn your table guests about the seeds!), the quinces were a little sour, the nuts added a needed crunch.  I liked the saffron, honey, vinegar mix but wished it had more of a sweet and sour bite to it.  I think perhaps another vinegar, like apple cider or red wine, would have been better for this.  

Usually you mix the honey and vinegar in a 1-to-1 combination to get a good sweet and sour effect, but I put in more balsamic than honey.  I think that was right.  Even more vinegar would have been fine.

My only complaint was that the chicken was overcooked.  My guest taster did not agree.  I wanted the meat to be firmer.  If I did this again, I would not pre-cook the chicken, knowing that it had plenty of time to get cooked during the last phase.  I would start with chunks of chicken meat, already deboned.

Also, I would consider cooking the entire mixture only 45 minutes total with the lid off.  

I used an entire tablespoon of saffron but the stew did not turn out yellow.  Should I have used more?  I really can't say.

The leftover stew reheated nicely for lunch the next day.

Success!