Celebrate Memorial Day with This Vermouth REcipe Lineup
Vermouth is having something of a renaissance— what can be best described as a “moment." More and more people are waking up to the potential of this once sidelined drink— a fortified wine flavored with herbs, spices, fruit, and other natural flavorings— thanks, in large part, to the growing popularity of the Negroni and the always-classic martini. The truth is, vermouth is featured in the majority of the most popular cocktails in history and is available in a variety of styles, with complexities of character that range from mouth-puckeringly astringent to bittersweet.
And, good news— vermouth can be used in more than just drinks! Jack Adair Bevan, the author of A Spirited Guide to Vermouth, shows what the complexity of vermouth can bring to a dish. Memorial Day weekend is a perfect time to try something new, and if you’ve been curious about vermouth, look no further than this vermouth-forward menu for the weekend!
The Rosé Cup
Mark Ward from Regal Rogue vermouth made this for me a couple of summers ago, and it’s become a go-to summer drink. I think the rhubarb bitters adds another layer of complexity, but if you don’t fancy hunting them down, Angostura bitters will do just fine. Think of it as a light aromatic alternative to Pimm’s.
Image courtesy of: https://www.louisianacookin.com/
Ingredients:
2 strawberries, chopped, plus 1 to garnish
50ml Regal Rogue Wild Rosé vermouth
2 cucumber ribbons
25ml fresh lemon juice
2 dashes of rhubarb bitters
Fever-Tree Indian tonic water
basil sprig
ice cubes
To Prepare:
Gently muddle the chopped strawberries in a highball glass. Add ice cubes and the vermouth, cucumber, lemon juice and bitters, stir, then top up with tonic water. Garnish with the remaining strawberry and the basil.
Summer Spaghetti with Garden Herbs and Vermouth
This recipe works with anything green that’s freshly in season, and often the herbs found in the garden around the same time complement whatever vegetable you’re using. You could make it in April with parsley and broad beans, I’ve made it in May with wet garlic (immature garlic bulbs) and the first podded peas of spring. This one was made in late June when I was fending off a glut of zucchini and the arugula was at its most spicy. The trick is to cook everything quickly, so the vegetables can shine at their freshest. Recipe by Meg Lobb (One Field Farm)
Image courtesy of: foodnetwork.com
Ingredients (serves 2):
1/2 lb spaghetti
Glug of olive oil
4–6 small zucchini, thickly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
Pinch of dried chili flakes
Glug of dry vermouth
2 handfuls of arugula
Handful of parsley, basil or mint, chopped, plus extra to serve
Grated zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½
Parmesan, grated, to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To Prepare:
Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water.
While the spaghetti’s cooking, heat a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the courgettes and sauté for a few minutes, then add the sliced garlic and chili flakes, adding the glug of vermouth just as the garlic starts to pick up some color.
Add a few spoons of the pasta water to help make a sauce and cook for 2–3 minutes, then throw in the arugula and herbs so they wilt but stay green.
Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest and a squeeze of juice.
Drain the spaghetti and add it to the pan of zucchini, tossing to combine.
Serve in bowls, dressed with more herbs and a little olive oil, and season with sea salt and lots of fresh black pepper.
Finally, crown the whole thing with parmesan.
Note: If you’re lucky to have the zucchini flowers they make a beautiful edition, shredded and stirred in at the last minute.
BUTTERMILK AND ‘NEGRONI’ PANNA COTTA
The negroni is a favorite here at the pub, and we have been trying to work out a way to capture the essence of this classic cocktail in a dessert. We believe that the careful balance of sweet, bitter, boozy with a hint of citrus, makes for a great finish to any meal (well, we think it makes a great aperitif or addition to any given moment, actually!) After careful deliberation and recipe trials the Buttermilk and ‘negroni’ Panna Cotta was born. Recipe by Josh Eggleton (The Pony & Trap)
image courtesy of: https://www.instagram.com/theponyandtrap/
Ingredients (makes 6 panna cotta):
Equipment: 6 pudding molds and a food scale
For the ‘negroni’ jelly layer:
25ml Campari
25ml sweet vermouth – we like to use Bramley & Gage
40g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
60ml water
1 leaf of bronze gelatin
For the buttermilk layer:
50ml whole milk
50ml double cream
200g buttermilk
25g caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1 leaf of bronze gelatin
To serve:
2 blood orange segments (or regular orange segments, if blood orange is out of season), each cut into 3 pieces
6 small chunks of sponge cake (about the size of a small grape)
To Prepare:
Start by making the ‘negroni’ jelly layer. Mix all the ingredients (except the gelatin) together in a pan over a low heat.
While you do this, put the gelatin in some cold water to soften – 5 minutes should do it. Once the gelatin is soft, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin then add it to the warm ‘negroni’ mix.
Once the gelatin has melted in the pan, transfer the mix to a measuring cup or small pitcher.
To make the buttermilk layer, put the gelatin in some cold water to soften for about 5 minutes.
Heat all the ingredients (except the gelatin) in a pan, whisking as you go until it is just above lukewarm, about 120°F.
Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin then add it to the buttermilk mixture and stir.
When the gelatin has melted, transfer from the pan into a second measuring cup or small pitcher.
Now, layer the buttermilk with the ‘negroni’ jelly.
Place a pudding mold on a digital scale. Add 10g of jelly mixture to each mold then refrigerate. Check after 15 minutes – it’s ready when you feel some resistance. Do this for each mold. Note: if you don’t have a food scale, you can eyeball the mixture— you want approximately 1 part jelly to 3 parts buttermilk for each layer.
Put the pudding molds back on the scales and add 35ml of the buttermilk mixture to each mold – do this very gently as the layers may bleed if you pour too fast or from too high. Try pouring from the measuring cup onto the back of a spoon.
Place in the fridge. Continue this pour, set, pour, set process until all mixtures are used up – you ought to have two layers of each.
Once you are happy that the panna cottas are set, get a warm bowl of water ready. Dip the outside of a mold into the water to loosen the panna cotta, then turn it out into your favorite bowl.
Garnish with blood orange segments. Blowtorch or burn them lightly in a frying pan for more depth of flavor.
Tear up some little pieces of sponge cake – the same size of a small orange segment – and scatter them around the outside of the panna cotta. This adds some nice texture contrast to the dessert.
Note: If you like, make a little negroni mix – 20ml each of gin, Campari, vermouth and orange juice – and pour a splash of this into each bowl around the panna cotta. If you have any leftover, just drink it!
