I'm married to a smartass

[chowmama]

He wanted to talk to me as I was setting up some leftover spaghetti sauce for canning. The sauce was a bit thick and there was some stuck in the jar, so I decided to rinse the jar and add it to the mix. I carried it out, shaking it, to talk to him.

"What the hell is that?"

"I'm rinsing out the jar with vermouth."

"Ok, as long as it isn't, like, stomach contents."

"Well, it will be eventually."

"Aw. hell, everything around here ends up being stomach contents eventually!"

Smartass.

[GoneOffShore]

1. Which vermouth do you use?

[chowmama]

2. Whatever's mid-range and on sale

Current bottle is Noilly Prat, extra dry.

I don't use vermouth often, but it beats opening a whole bottle of wine just for a little to put in a sauce. Also, DH wanted to try a Manhattan.

[GoneOffShore]

3. I worked in a restaurant kitchen where the chef used vermouth in everything.

We get our Noilly Prat direct from the maker over in Marseillan, right on the Mediterranean coast near Sete - goes well with oysters. We drive over about twice a year and buy a carton. A lot of their production goes to the US, and people in Provence generally drink rosé or pastis, so it's hard to find in the supermarket.

If you can get it, try their amber on ice, with a splash of soda.