It’s been so long since I’ve posted a cocktail here – I’m delighted to be starting again with my weekly fix me a little drink with a Dilly Bean Martini! I don’t have any good excuse other than a super-packed busy schedule. That said, I was in Seattle a few weeks ago having dinner with a good friend, who ordered a dirty martini. It got me thinking about how much I really love a good dirty martini, too. (Even more so, because I was sipping a drink that tasted a little bit like cough syrup and I had a case of cocktail envy going on).
Combine all this with a sudden desire to start cleaning out the cupboards from all of last season’s canning. The weather is getting warm and summer will be here before we know it. We’re almost to the end of the tomato sauce, but I’m pretty sure there are about a dozen jars of various pickles lurking. So to get a start on it, I opened up a can of dilly beans.
I love dilly beans so much! I’ll eat them by the handful for a snack. I’ll add them to a cheese board and I’ll chop them up in tuna salad. So why have I never used dilly bean brine in a dirty martini? This recipe fully remedies that oversight. A dilly bean dirty martini is a perfect weekend drink. Dilly beans are a lovely garnish for any savory cocktail and the brine is just a perfect compliment to vodka and vermouth.
Plus, I finally got to pull out my dirty martini cutting board for photos! How cute is this?
I’m so looking forward to summer and green bean season – I can’t wait to make more dilly beans (I’m down to just a few jars, as it turns out). I’m also eagerly awaiting a warmish day so that I can sit on the patio and sip one of these beauties.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin or vodka
- 1/2 ounce Vermouth
- 1 ounce dilly bean brine
- 3 or 4 dilly beans for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the gin or vodka, the vermouth, and the dilly bean brine with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with the dilly beans.
- Serves 1. Enjoy!
