Happy Hour Tuesday: The Corsican

Happy Hour Tuesday!

If you are not Italian or French you may not know that Corsica is a small island located to the West of Italy or to the South-East of France, thus a territory that in the past has been fought over between these two countries. Today Corsica belongs to France and it’s also called Island of Beauty, as it offers a variety of sceneries, from its beautiful beaches where scuba diving is almost a must, to its great trails along the mountains.

The Corsican Cocktail, similarly to the inner nature of the island, mixes a bit of French and a bit of Italian: the aperitif Lillet Blanc with Rometti limoncello. Given the refreshing, zesty taste of limoncello, these two ingredients marry well together since Lillet Blanc contains wine, orange peel and quinine. Their flavors combined make a remarkable, balanced, modern drink, not extremely bitter and with a moderate sweetness. In addition to Lillet Blanc and Rometti Limoncello, eldelflower syrup and club soda are added, which increment the sweet, floral taste that makes this cocktail an enjoyable treat for every occasion.

Ingredients:
3 ounces Lillet Blanc, chilled
7 ounces Rometti limoncello, chilled
3 1/2 ounces elderflower syrup
1 3/4 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 (10-ounce) bottle club soda, chilled
6 lemon twists (optional)

Combine the Lillet, Rometti limoncello, elderflower syrup, and lemon juice in a large measuring cup or medium bowl. Using a funnel, transfer to a 3-cup-capacity bottle (or 750-ml bottle) with a tightfitting lid and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
When ready to serve, pour about 4 ounces of the mixture into a chilled cocktail glass and top with about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 ounces of the club soda. Garnish with a lemon twist, if desired, and serve. (Alternatively, you can combine all of the ingredients except the lemon twists in a 5-cup punch bowl and serve immediately.)

~Enjoy!

Recipe from http://www.Chow.com

Image from OHSOBEAUTIFULPAPER.COM

Happy Hour Tuesday: Amerouge

Happy Hour Tuedsay!

Italy marries Brazil in this week’s cocktail called Amerouge, which features among its ingredients Campari bitter -which at this point we all know what it is, right?- and Cachaça, a distilled spirit made from sugarcane. Cachaça originated in Portugal where it was made up until the 16th century when its production moved to Brazil. Similar to rum, cachaça can be unaged or aged, and today it’s most known in countries outside of Brazil as one of the main ingredients for Caipirinha.
Sweet, smoky, with hints of fruit and spices, cachaça is the yang to the Campari yin: together they balance each other in a bittersweet symphony of smooth, citrusy blend.

Orange juice, mango and a splash of Rometti limoncello contribute to make Amerouge the perfect, exotic aperitif that couldn’t open up our Spring 2014 Happy Hour Tuesday series in any fresher way. Consume preferably ice cold and in company of some good friends.

Ingredients:
1 1⁄2 oz Cachaça
1 oz Campari
1 1⁄2 oz Orange Juice
1 1⁄2 oz Mango Juice
1/2 oz Rometti Limoncello
1/2 Fresh Lemon Juice
3 oz Tonic Water

Mix juices, Rometti Limoncello and cachaça in a shaker with some ice cubes. Shake well until chilled and pour over a glass with some crushed ice. Add Campari, stir gently. Fill up with Tonic Water and add a slice of orange to garnish.

~Enjoy!

FridayLicious: Limoncello Cheesecake

Thank God It’s Friday… Thank God It’s Delicious!

Do you enjoy savoring a slice of cake with your coffee but don’t enjoy so much baking? Or, unfortunately for your husband and little ones, you would bake everything you could but your relationship with the oven is a love-hate affair that tends to lean a little bit more towards the “hate’? This Friday Rometti Limoncello has a delicious recipe for you that does not require baking: Limoncello Cheesecake. Well, there is a little baking, but it consists in only letting the crust sit!

Cheesecakes are very popular in the United States. If you ask around, some people will even tell you that Cheesecakes are an American invention, which is partially true and partially not. Believe it or not, the ancient Greek were already mastering the art of Cheesecakes, although at the time Cheesecakes were used for religious uses and had a very different taste. It took the introduction in 1872 of American cream cheese to develop the modern Cheesecake we all so love today. And once again, like for other cooking ingredients, cream cheese was nothing less than a mistake! In fact a dairyman called William Lawrence  from Chester, NY,  is the one to claim for such a popular dairy ingredient which he accidentally made while he was trying to reproduce the French Neufchatel cheese. Mr. Lawrence was the founder of Philadelphia brand Cream Cheese. The rest is history.

Just FYI shall you want to make this Limoncello Cheesecake a little more Italian-style, you can substitute cream cheese with ricotta.

Ingredients:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter – melted
8 ounces cream cheese – softened
8 ounces frozen whipped topping – thawed
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup Rometti Limoncello

Preheat oven oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Stir together crust ingredients. Press firmly and evenly in bottom of pie plate.
Bake 9 minutes. Cool 20 minutes.
In the bowl of your mixer, beat cheesecake ingredients on medium speed until smooth; spoon over crust.
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

~Enjoy!
Recipe and image copyright of Paula Jones with Bellalimento