Do you remember the very last August issue ofGourmetmagazine? That was back August 2009, andthese ice cream sandwicheswere on the cover. Somewhere in the pages inside there was a recipe forvodka-spiked cherry tomatoesthat had me completely captivated. I made them that August. That was the first time I'd ever blanched a cherry tomato in my life and it was kind of fussy. But they were fun to make, and even more fun to eat, and starred as a crowd-pleasing, conversation-starting cherry tomato appetizer at a dinner party of mine that August. It's a simple concept really: all the things you love about a Bloody Mary (tomatoes, acid, salt, and vodka), in bite-size form.
Thing is, I had totally forgotten about those 2009 vodka-spiked cherry tomatoes until somehow they came up in a conversation recently and I've decided it's time to make them again, eight years later. Maybe there are no new ideas—just new moments to remember old things. Turns out I'm faster atblanchingtomatoes now, but it's still a little bit of a process. The act of slipping the skins off each ripe little orb is oddly satisfying—it'll make you wonder who first decided to toss a tomato into a pot of boiling water and then shock it in ice to get the skin to slide right off like some kind of magic? I love it when things work the way they're supposed to in the kitchen.
Once the tomatoes are peeled, you toss them in a mixture of vodka, vinegar, sugar, and lemon zest and let them soak it all in for about an hour. Then you drain the tomatoes (any leftover vodka is delicious in a realBloody Maryor your next batch ofgazpacho),这樱桃番茄开胃菜在你的服务next cocktail or dinner party with toothpicks and a dish of salt and pepper to dip each spiked little red globe in. And that's the most fun part of all: the poking and dipping and eating and getting to control just how much salt and pepper you want on each secretly boozy bite.
