(Blogger is messed-up and I cannot title my post in the typical way)

THINGS TO DO WITH INEXPENSIVE BRANDY




For some reason Christian Brothers brandy was on a very major sale at the supermarket yesterday. Seven dollars a bottle with a $3.00 rebate by post is enough of a bargain that I'm considering laying in a stock. Not that I would actually drink it, mind you. No, cheap brandy is best used preserving fruit, particularly peaches and pears.

My husband has been concocting a frozen-slushie type treat from ripe slices of peaches mixed with caster sugar and brandy. After a couple hours in the freezer, the peaches absorb the liquor and the sugar helps break down their texture. I've offered to puree it for him and process it in the ice-cream maker, but he insists that it is enjoyable as is.

My real motivation for buying the brandy is for pears. In the late fall, seckel pears (a small reddish variety) are available for a short time. While unremarkable eaten out-of-hand, they improve greatly when cooked in lemon juice and sugar and then sealed in a sterilised jar with enough brandy to cover. As we get closer to fall, I'll post the directions in detail. If you put them up around Thanksgiving (late November for those outside the US) they will be full of boozy (if that's not already a word, it is now) joy by Christmas. Who wouldn't love a jar full of fruit soaked in alcohol? The hardest part is peeling the tiny pears so that they retain their shape, but with practice and a good knife, it can be accomplished.

The first year that I made them, I hadn't a clue what I was doing. I was also young with plenty of disposable income to toss out thoughtlessly so when I went to buy brandy for the project, I didn't buy a bottle of $7.00 VS brandy. Oh no, at 24 years of age I was oblivious enough to preserve them in Asbach, to the tune of something like $25.00 a bottle. One of my friends who received a jar as a gift told me that she detested pears, and tossed them, but that the brandy was wonderful!

I find that the preserved fruit is best served with vanilla ice cream or if you're lucky enough to have it available-double cream.

One other use for cheap brandy that my husband devised is a drink made of 2 oz. Lemon liquor*, ½ oz-1 oz brandy, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Serve over ice.

*The lemon liquor is made by mixing 5 cups vodka with the peel of 4 lemons (remove as much pith as possible). Place jar in refrigerator and shake once every day for two weeks. Remove peel at the end of two weeks, strain into a clean jar through a double thickness of cheesecloth (to catch the oils from the rind) and stir in 1 ½ cups caster sugar. This recipe also works with orange. I have some cherries soaking in vodka at the moment-I'll let you know how it turns out in a week or so.