As we feast + fest with friends this year, we turn away from food for a brief moment to make room in the margins for seasonal libations; in this case, a new autumnal favorite of ours, Apple Vermouth.
The recipe for this easy infusion comes from Audrey Saunders of Manhattan’s excellent Pegu Club on Houston and was featured in the recent cookbook from New York City’s Greenmarket, The New Greenmarket Cookbook: Recipes and Tips from Today’s Finest Chefs—and the Stories behind the Farms That Inspire Them. While not the most succinct title, the book’s full of farmers’ market-centric tips for shopping and home-cooking and features myriad vegetable-forward recipes (though it’s not at all 100% plant-based).
While we won’t reprint the recipe word-for-word on these pages, out of respect for the author + publisher, you essentially slice up 6 or so Macintosh apples (as their flavor is high and skins are thin) and throw them in a jar full of high quality dry vermouth (Saunders suggests Noilly Prat, which worked very well for us). As of writing, you can see the entire recipe + write-up via Google Books.
After 5 or so days of infusing and daily shaking, you can enjoy the vermouth over ice, which is smooth and deadly in its subtly intoxicating nature (Saunders is dead-on with her quote to the right), or add it in to autumn up your favorite cocktail that usually calls for standard dry vermouth.
We’d suggest making a Dry Manhattan for starters, subbing in the Apple Vermouth for the dry vermouth and an apple slice for the lemon peel garnish.
