Very presentable

FOOD FILE:If you're planning a homemade Christmas this year, you'll need to get going now to make limoncello liqueur, which needs a month in the bottle before it's ready to drink.

In Italy you can go to a chemist and buy high strength alcohol to make this, but here you're better off using vodka, although it doesn't have to be an expensive brand. This recipe is from Clodagh McKenna's new book Homemade, which also has some wonderful truffle, cookie and chutney recipes (the chutney also needs some bottle-ageing time).

A stylish idea would be to pair the limoncello with a big jar of preserved lemons and a jar of lemon curd, recipes for which are also in McKenna’s book. You could also make a big batch of real lemonade for non-drinkers.

If you’re making more than one batch of lemon-scented edible gifts, it might be worth buying a crate from a wholesale market. Philip Fitzpatrick of Caterway expects to have unwaxed organic Italian and Niçoise lemons in stock this week at the Caterway depot at 16/17 Halston Street in Dublin 7. You can check in advance by calling 01-8728000. He expects the Italian ones to sell for around €2.50 a kilo (a 10kg box will contain about 60 lemons), and the French ones will be slightly cheaper. Fitzpatrick says you can also order these lemons from The Village Greengrocer in Castlemartyr, Co Cork; Behan’s in Athlone, Morton’s in Salthill, Galway, and Clancy Lewis Fruit Ltd (wholesale) in Limerick.

If you are willing to settle for waxed lemons (scrub them well with a nailbrush before using), there’s a massive price difference: you can buy a box of 60 Turkish lemons for around €10 at the Dublin Corporation Fruit and Veg market at Mary’s Lane, Dublin 7.

Limoncello

From Homemade: Irresistible Recipes for Every Occasion, by Clodagh McKenna (Kyle Cathie, £18.99/€24)

150ml water

200g cane sugar

grated zest and juice of eight unwaxed lemons

700ml vodka

Place a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the water and sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for three to four minutes, until the liquid is syrupy. Remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon zest and juice, and leave to cool. Pour the vodka into the lemon syrup. Line up sterilised bottles and pour in the liquid. Leave in a cool, dark place for a month, shaking every day for the first week. After a month, the liqueur will be ready to drink. Transfer to clean sterilised bottles. Before serving, place the limoncello in a freezer for a couple of hours. It is is best served in frozen shot glasses.

Countdown cooking

Can you learn how to cook roast crown of chicken with fricasée of legs and thighs in just three minutes? Kevin Dundon's series of short recipe demonstrations for SuperValu, The Best of Real Food, will be shown on RTÉ1 just before the 9pm news every Wednesday until December 29th. The three-minute shorts, filmed in Hurley's SuperValu in Midleton, Co Cork, are fast moving, but are backed up by recipes that can be downloaded from supervalu.ie, so it's not a blink-and-you'll-miss-it situation. There will be special offers in-store on key ingredients each week, and if you want to be really organised, you can print out the recipe and pick up everything you'll need in advance of the TV show. Next Wednesday's recipe is for traditional pot roast with a rich red-wine sauce.

Next month’s episodes will include seasonal favourites such as smoked salmon filo parcels, whole baked ham, and Brussels sprouts with caramelised walnuts and cranberries.

Meet the farmer

Discount supermarkets and premium products don’t often go hand-in-hand, but Aldi Stores Ireland has been awarded Checkout magazine’s Best Private Label (Premium) award for 2010 for its Specially Selected range of groceries, many of which are Irish, including steaks, yoghurts, honey, jams, juices and chocolates.

Standout products in the range are the Specially Selected Irish Aberdeen Angus steaks which are worth seeking out and are well priced at €12.99 for a pack of two fillets (450g). Suppliers of this really good beef include John K Walshe (pictured), who farms in the Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary. All of the meat in Aldi’s Nature’s Isle range is Bord Bia Quality Assured.

The Ardagh Irish vintage cheddar (€2.79/250g), made in Newmarket, Co Cork with milk from the Golden Vale, is also superb, with a really nutty tang and not too much acidity.

More than 45 per cent of Aldi’s groceries come from Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers, and as we have reported, the chain picked up 12 Blas na hÉireann awards at the Dingle Food and Wine festival last month. See aldi.ie.

Posh pantry gifts

Dublin’s Merrion Hotel oozes style and sophistication, so it’s no surprise that executive chef Ed Cooney’s Merrion Pantry range of gourmet gifts is beautifully presented and skilfully made with top-notch ingredients. But what does come as a surprise is the price list, which is not as expensive as you might expect. A family-sized Christmas pudding, wrapped in muslin and ribbon, comes with a jar of brandy butter, nestling in a cloud of tissue paper in a gift bag. The price for this is €20, and for €55 you can splurge on the hotel’s Christmas hamper, which has cranberry sauce, mulled wine and grape chutney, macaroons, mince pies, chocolate truffles and lemon oil as well as the pudding and brandy butter. Merrion Pantry products are on sale in the hotel’s Cellar Bar.