Hot and Hot Spicy Tini
Spring is a great time to gather local fresh peppers and prepare a pepper-infused vodka.
By Hot and Hot Fish Club
Spring is a great time to gather local fresh peppers and prepare a pepper-infused vodka. Making your own pepper-infused vodka is easy and versatile. Once strained, the infused vodka will keep under refrigeration indefinitely. We use it to spice up our Blond or Bloody Marys and in Idie's Homemade Pasta Sauces. Blue cheese-stuffed olives can be purchased, but they're easy to make and also keep well refrigerated. Purchase large pimiento-stuffed green queen olives and remove the pimiento with a toothpick. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a thin, round tip with creamy gorgonzola that has been softened at room temperature. Pipe the cheese into the olives and you're done! These are a great nibble for any martini and their saltiness really balances the spiciness of this cocktail.
Ingredients:
5 fresh red cayenne chile peppers (about 2 ounces)
½ small (8-ounce) onion, peeled and cut into 4 wedges
1 (750mL) bottle vodka
2 ½ tablespoons olive juice
1 blue cheese-stuffed green queen olive, for garnish
Procedure: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Remove the stems from the chiles and blanch in the boiling water for 30 seconds and drain. Place the chiles on a clean kitchen towel and pat dry. While they are still warm, cut two vertical slits through them with a pairing knife. Combine the warm chiles and 2 of the onion wedges in a sterile 1-liter jar with a tight-fitting lid. Reserve the remaining vodka for another use. Pour the vodka over the vegetables and cover the jar. Allow the mixture to sit in a dark, cool place at room temperature for three to four days.
After three days, taste the vodka, to determine the spiciness. The mixture can continue to soak for 1 more day, if more spice is needed. When ready, strain the vodka through a fine-meshed sieve and discard the chiles and onions. The strained vodka can be poured back into its original bottle (that has been cleaned) or into a sterile 1-liter jar. Refrigerate the vodka until ready to use.
Chill a martini glass for at least 20 minutes before serving. Fill a martini shaker halfway with ice. Add 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of the pepper-infused vodka, and the olive juice and shake until well chilled. Strain the mixture into a chilled martini glass. Drop a blue-cheese stuffed olive into the bottom of the glass and serve immediately. Yields one serving.