You might remember, back in early August, I made up some “0 Mile Nocino” with some of the walnuts growing on our tree.  Well its’ been about 2 months since I stuffed the walnuts, some spices, lemon peel and sugar with some vodka into Mason Jars.  Nearly every day (some days I forget  — just sayin!) they got a gentle swirl until everything was well dissolved.  In the last few days, the squirrels have been running rampant in the walnut tree, stealing ripe walnuts, and driving Kimiko nuts.  Well, if that’s not a reminder that I have walnuts steeping in booze to decant, I don’t know what is!  I’ve already done the tarragon and basil digestif, and am almost ready to decant the damson plums, so its starting to look a bit like an apothecary here!

The first jar that I opened and started to strain, I was quite surprised! I had braced myself for a slimy mess.  Those of you who have walnut trees know exactly what I mean.  For those who don’t, the walnuts develop inside a husk, which, come fall, decomposes into a slimy mass that slips off the outer husk.  They really do make a mess, and if you don’t rake up regularly, you get dark brown slimy bits all over the grass, which stain like the dickens!!!  (Historically, you always knew when walnut harvest season was around, because I sported dark brown stained fingers!)

I guess the alcohol has enough drying properties, that it discourages the slimy from happening.  Once well steeped, however, the alcohol does take on the characteristic dark brown/green colour of the slimy husks.

Because the husks break down ever so slightly, this was a little bit cloudy, so the last step is to strain through a coffee filter, which isn’t difficult, but does take a bit of time to just let the liquid drip through.  You can see here, it is lovely and clear.

When I made this up, I used the recipe posted this summer by David Lebovitz.  Most are very similar, with slight variations in terms of amount of sugar, and the spices.  In this batch, there is a first hit of cinnamon and lemon, followed by nice herbal note, reminiscent of chartreuse, but richer and rounder tasting.   It’s pretty good now, but I think that it will also continue to mellow over the next couple of months.  Who would have thunk that something this yummy could come of walnut husks!!

Recipe for Nocino (Liqueur de Noix), courtesy of David Lebovitz

• 2 1/2 cups (500g) sugar
• 1 liter vodka
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 10 whole cloves
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• zest of one lemon, unsprayed, removed in wide pieces with a vegetable peeler
• 30 green walnuts; washed, dried, and quartered

1. Mix everything in a large jar, one that will be big enough to hold everything. Stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved, then add the walnuts.

2. Tightly close the jar and let stand for two months, not in direct sunlight, shaking the jar every day.

3. When it’s ready to bottle, filter the liqueur through cheesecloth or a coffee filter and pour into a clean bottle.