Watermelon Radish Martini

Make up a drink, any drink. Just have it be something you wouldn’t usually make. These were the instructions from A Mixed Dram, the host of this month’s Mixology Monday, Do you know how hard it is to think up something that you wouldn’t normally think up? For inspiration, we turned, as we often do, to our refrigerator.

Belonging to a winter CSA means we end up with a fridge full of winter produce and no idea what to do with it. Maybe we’re a little lazy. Ok, we are lazy. I can only eat so many raw carrots and mashed turnips. Staring out of the fridge today was this turnip:

That picture reminds me of something. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but it is giving me goosebumps nonetheless.

Behind the voluptuous hairy turnip, I found a watermelon radish. We decided it would make both a delicious and gorgeous garnish. These are great big greenish-skinned radishes with fusicia rings on the inside. The flavor is like a sweet, mild radish, minus the hot burning sensation.

Somehow, Leah managed to get capers into our drink recipe, the flower buds of a Mediterranean plant. I think it was because we did not have any vermouth in the home-house during the cocktail photo shoot (though of course we have it in the bar-house). The final product: A crisp gin martini with the floral hint of capers, garnished with one of the most beautiful and colorful vegetables on the earth.

Um, oh yeah, how this fits in with Mixology Monday's "new horizons" theme: Well, garnishes are often an afterthought for us. We are so focused on the drink itself that our garnishes tend toward fairly simple. I can also say with conviction that this is the first time we have made a cocktail with either watermelon radishes or capers. Even if you don't try the drink, seek out a watermelon radish to munch on. Why these snappy veggies are not available at the corner grocery store is a mystery to me.

Rad Martini

2 1/2 ounces of Bombay Dry or Plymouth gin
1/8 ounce juice from a jar of capers
watermelon radish slice

Stir gin and caper juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with radish.