Vermouth is underrated, as I noted in my earlier post on mixology. What is better than a cold martini with a judicious touch of vermouth?
The Paupered chef over at Serious Eats discourses on vermouth's proper storage, and gives a nice recipe for mussels. I must begin storing my vermouth in the frig.
I, too, am a big fan of vermouth for cooking. I've been making variants of this sauce all summer. I vary the amount of vinegar and sometimes add veal stock, but it's nicest with vermouth, I think.
Cherry Gastrique with Vermouth
Make some caramel with about 1/2 C sugar
Toss in
1 C pitted cherries,
Stir to sear cherries and release juices. Add:
A big splash of vermouth
A pod of star anise
A half cinnamon stick
s+p
Cook about five minutes. Taste and adjust with drops of champagne vinegar, salt and pepper. Swirl in 2T butter, serve over a simple grilled, rare magret or roast quail with fresh chopped herbs like thyme, chives or chervil. I have also served this with roasted pork tenderloin and pork/duck confit.
***
"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."
"Oui, monsieur."
"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"
"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.
Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."
-Ian Fleming, Casino Royale
