Alessandra Zecchini: Drinks

Showing posts with label Drinks. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Kawakawa liqueur - liquore al kawakawa

I have been planning to make a kawakawa liqueur for a while now, so when I went to Italy I bought back a bottle of 70% alcohol for this purpose (they didn't have the 95% in the shop, but 70% is more than I can find here in NZ anyway, where pure alcohol for making homemade liqueurs is not sold).

So this is my first attempt:

Pick, wash and pat dry 5 leaves of kawakawa

Place in a jar and add 200ml of alcohol (I used 70%)

Leave for 10 days in a dark place

After 10 days make a syrup with

100ml of water and 100g of sugar

Make sure that the syrup is clear before turning the heat off

Let the syrup cool down completely and then add to the alcohol and leaves

Leave for 10 more days

Filter and bottle

Leave for a couple of days to settle and taste!

Well, it is delicious, the colour is green and the aroma is strong (can't believe that just 5 leaves can give you so much flavour!!), not sure if it is too sweet or not for my taste (as sweet as limoncello really) but in one month and a few tastings I will decide how to make a second batch. I am pretty sure that it is good for digestion, and blocked nose! But let me 'experiment' a bit longer :-)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Tè al ribes rosso - red currant tea

More than a recipe this is a tip: fresh red currants make a delicious tea, just wash the berries and add hot water, let them sit for 5-10 minutes and then serve, with lemon slices if you like, and sweeten if you wish (sugar, honey, maple syrup...)

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Monday, June 11, 2018

Banana and raspberry smoothie, and things from the garden

The last of my own grown bananas, perfect for smoothies, just added frozen raspberries and water, so sweet and delicious!

In the garden the friarielli (cime di rapa) are growing

and the broccolini

and cavolo nero

Hibiscus in pots

Winter is coming, time for warm slippers and pumpkin soup

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Monday, May 15, 2017

Smoothie with fresh turmeric (curcuma)

After a few smoothies with turmeric powder (lovely, I must say), I decided to buy the fresh root and give it a try. It is milder (well, I didn't use tons!) and fresher, with a different 'zing', a bit like fresh ginger.

For this smoothie I used a banana, some frozen mango, a kiwi gold (yellow kiwi), a piece of fresh turmeric root (peeled) and coconut water as a base. I was expecting the smoothie to be more yellow, of course not as yellow as with turmeric powder, but at least a bit more than what I got, so more cutting of roots and more 'experiments' are needed :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Plum and strawberry smoothie

This is the season for plums, and we also have a few last strawberries in the garden, enough to add to smoothies and make them sweet! In fact I love the fact that plums are a little tart, but they do benefit from the strawberry sweetness. As a base I used half apple juice and half coconut water. Perfect breakfast!

And now a few things from my garden!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Thursday, December 22, 2016

In the garden, and a fresh San Pellegrino drink for summer

The garden is full of produce and flowers, and also limes and mint, so cheers to summer in New Zealand with a glass of San Pellegrino sparkling water (just add fresh mint leaves and lime (or lemon).

What else I have now? Silverbeet and rainbow chards, calendula and radishes (recipes coming soon)

and lovely dahlias.

The peonies are not from my garden (winter is not cold enough in Auckland to grow them, but I love them so much, so here is a photo for my pinterest board :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Vitamin smoothie: Kiwi, spinach and berries - and a few of my favourite things right now

So yummy: Kiwi, baby spinach leaves and frozen mixed berries, plus some coconut water.

And now some photos of favourite things right now:

Eating gelato at Giapo

Eating dinner in the Japanese room, with feet under the warm Kotatsu (Japanese heated table)

Collecting small things

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Kiwi smoothie

Time for vitamin C! This smoothie is just kiwi, banana and coconut water, a real meal in a glass!

And look what I found in the garden! Full of rain poor pumpkin, very heavy and now drying on the windowsill.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Yummy green smoothies and first produce from the garden

I am addicted to my new Nutribullet, here three of my favourite smoothies so far:

Baby spinach, kiwi, coconut water

Celery (add a few leaves), frozen mango cubes, coconut water

Baby cavolo nero, banana, spirulina and natural apple juice

And here are the first goodies from the veggie garden: strawberries, rocket salad, pan choi and radishes. The baby cavolo nero in the last smoothie was also from my garden but I blended it before taking a photo. More photos coming up soon :-).

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Easy to make hazelnut milk and instant vegan Nutella

Now that I have a nutribullet I am trying all sort of experiments, and this is my first nut milk.

I used toasted hazelnut, but I guess that if you are into raw food you can use raw hazelnuts. I like toasted hazelnuts though, and a rinsed mine with water to remove as much as i could of the brown skin.

Then I added a bit of water, about twice the amount of the nuts. A quick blend and here is the result!

I passed the milk through a sieve, it tasted great but a bit grainy, so I passed it again using a fine cotton cloth (a clean handkerchief would work).

The ring from the nutribullet jag is ideal to keep the cotton in place while the milk is filtering though!

I got one glass, but where is the photo? Ops, Arantxa drunk it all at once! Max and I just had a taste. The hazelnut taste was great! Plus there was quite a bit of hazelnut paste left over.

Instant Vegan Nutella

Place the hazelnut paste in a bowl or jug with a few block of dark chocolate, place into a saucepan with some water and bring to the boil to melt the chocolate. Stir. Done.

The resulting chocolate spread has a lovely gianduia flavour (cocoa and hazelnut) but it definitely feels low fat, and it is not too sweet either. Really lovely, and so easy to make!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Martina Doglio Cotto, Global Brand Ambassador for Riccadonna, visits New Zealand

Last week Martina Doglio Cotto, Sommelier and Riccadonna Ambassador, visited New Zealand for the first time hosting an intimate Italian lunch in Auckland. The event started with a Campari aperitif, followed by delicious dishes matched to the Riccadonna range and accompanied by Martina’s stories about the famous sparkling wines from Asti. Riccadonna is part of the Campari Group and it is distributed in New Zealand by Lion.