Bottega - Michael Chiarello [92]
Ice cubes
½ to 1 ounce olive brine
2 crispy blue cheese–stuffed olives
Pour the vodka into a heavy tumbler half-filled with ice. Stir vigorously with an up-and-down motion until the outside of the glass feels ice-cold to the touch. Add the brine and stir. Strain into a martini glass.
Serve with the olives skewered while still warm from the pan or placed beside the drink in a small ramekin—don’t drop the crispy olive into the martini.
Crispy Blue Cheese–Stuffed Olives
MAKES 12 OLIVES
Slightly crispy outside, rich and savory inside, these blue cheese–stuffed bites are the ideal accompaniment to an ice-cold martini. At Bottega, we deep fry these olives in peanut oil, but at home I generally sauté them in olive oil. If you don’t have time to fry the olives, then just serve regular green Sicilian olives into which you’ve piped some good blue cheese. Let them firm up in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
Don’t drop these olives into the cocktail; either skewer and place them across the glass or serve on a small warmed plate or ramekin next to the glass.
12 Sicilian pitted green olives, preferably unstuffed, or any large, perfect martini olive
½ cup (5 ounces) blue cheese, preferably Point Reyes Original Blue
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup Fritti Flour
Peanut oil (for deep fryer) or olive oil (for sauté pan)
Unstuffed giant bar olives are best, but if all you find is stuffed olives, use a cocktail fork or kitchen tweezers to pull out the pimiento. Break up the blue cheese and spoon it into a pastry bag or a squeeze bottle. Rest the bottle (but not the bag) for 1 to 2 minutes in a bowl filled with hot water to warm the cheese slightly. We keep the pastry bag near the stove to warm but don’t put it against direct heat. Pipe the softened cheese into each olive and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the cheese firm up.
While the olives chill, set up a dredging station with flour in one shallow bowl, buttermilk in another, and the fritti flour in a third.
Dip a cold olive into the flour, rolling to coat; dip it in the buttermilk, and then the fritti flour. Repeat with the remaining olives.
If deep-frying, in a Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 2 inches of peanut oil to 375°F on a deep-fat thermometer. Cook 6 olives at a time just until golden brown and crisp, 30 seconds. If using a sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, add all the olives, and stir them gently until browned, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the olives to paper towels to drain. Serve warm, alongside drinks.
The Iglesias School of Muddling
Knowing how to muddle leaves of mint or basil means your drinks taste better. Iglesias does it perfectly. He treats the herbs with care, not crushing or bruising the leaves but instead coaxing out the oil for maximum flavor.
He starts with his trusted muddler, which shows the signs of years of cocktail making. He strips the leaves of any stems, tosses the leaves into a heavy glass tumbler, and pours on the citrus juice and the simple syrup. Then he rubs the muddle against the sides of the glass, circling while massaging the leaves around and around until the smell of mint or basil rises up to his nose. He doesn’t slam the muddler into the bottom of the glass as if he’s churning butter. (In fact, I’ve seen Michael cringe when he’s caught sight of other bartenders crunching the leaves this way.) Arm yourself with the knowledge of how to bring each ingredient to its peak and your cocktails will inspire and delight.
Spanked-Basil Gimlet
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
This drink is refined, clean, and elegant. The blend of flavors is finely tuned: you begin with the eye-opening aroma of basil, shift to the freshest-tasting wave of viognier-based vodka, and end on a soft note with the taste of elderflower. I like to strain out the basil leaves and serve a clean, clear cocktail in a martini glass. Michael Iglesias sometimes leaves in the muddled basil and pours the drink into a tumbler for a Gimlet Rustico. Either way, be sure your glass is icy cold before