Thursday, May 29, 2014

New Recipe

this one is for Dandelion Wine

made from dandelions picked at the height of their bloom: thick, fat, and sticky, all petals and pollen

yellow fingertips and open flowers
in the calf-height grasses of the warm wind-blown fields
of Spring
(or knee-height, for the small ones who might like to help)

brighter than you've ever seen

3 to 4 quarts dandelion flower heads (it may be hard to tell how much you have once they shut tight and settle)
2 gallons boiling water

put the flowers in the water, stir, cover and seal with plastic wrap, and let sit for two days.  do not exceed this time unless you are me, in which case let sit for three days, and work hard as you can for one of them.  stir daily

bring the flowers back to a boil.  to the boil add:

juice of three large oranges
zest and juice of three lemons
1 lb golden raisins

boil gently, or not, for a while, maybe twenty or thirty minutes, or more.  time is relative.  then add:

6 lbs sugar, just exactly the amount you happen to have in the cupboard, and

boil for ten minutes more.

use a sieve to scoop and strain solids into another pot.  do not attempt to strain twelve quarts of liquid with flowers and raisins directly through a sieve and funnel into your primary, spilling hot sweet flowery beauty all over your feet and the floor, and do not feel bad about the wine you've just lost, even though it smells about as good as anything ever did.  strain the remaining  into primary.  let the solids cool for a bit, then spoon into a nylon straining bag, cool a while more and squeeze as much liquid as you can from them, into the primary.

allow to cool to room temp and then add:

1 packet Montrachet wine yeast
2 tsp yeast nutrient

put fermentation lock in place and let sit until 

the next thing happens...




Wednesday, May 14, 2014