Asparagus Martini

 

 My dad was a martini man. His recipe was simple — a 5:1 ratio of gin to vermouth. This became my “go to,” and it never fails.  As you know from the book review that I posted on Sunday, April 28^th, I recently read Death in le Jardin by Ian Moore. When main characters Richard Ainsworth and Valérie d’Orçay are served an asparagus martini, it gave them pause. In all honesty, it would me too. I mean, I like martinis, and I like asparagus, but I don’t know that I would like a combination of the two. Naturally, I had to look into this, and it’s actually a thing. I found a number of recipes, and because Richard and Valérie found that they not only began to tolerate it as the book progressed, but began to actually like it, I figured that I should give it a try as well. I am a new convert. Refreshing, complex, and satisfying, this will make many appearances come summer. Asparagus martinis for all!

Asparagus Martini

 2½ oz. gin

½ oz. dry vermouth

2 stalks fresh asparagus, cut into thirds

Few drops of fresh lemon juice

You’re going to need to plan ahead for this, because the ingredients have to infuse. So the night before you plan to serve it, chill your martini glass in the fridge, combine the gin, vermouth, and broken stalks of asparagus in a cocktail shaker, or jar with a lid*, and refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to serve your asparagus martini, remove the asparagus, set aside, place ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add ice cubes, and shake. Pour into your chilled martini glass, and place the top end of one of your asparagus spears into the glass. Add a few drops of fresh lemon juice, and serve.

 * I placed my ingredients into a ball jar, and vacuum sealed it before I refrigerated it to make the infusion more intense. I used this vacuum sealer that I absolutely love!

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