the Ultimate (and Epic Ultimate) Bell Pepper Cocktail

Last week's share gave us a selection of lovely bell peppers, which us a problem: Laura detests the bell pepper, both in taste and texture. While it's not among my favorite vegetables, I am not offended by it's inclusion in various foodstuffs. Instead of trading our peppers out for something else, I took this as a challenge to do something deliciously different with what I affectionately refer to as God's Filler Vegetable. (Seriously, it's in just about every frozen or easily prepared dish that includes some sort of "vegetable mix.") Giving this a bit of thought, I came to an obvious conclusion:

The bell pepper must be taken roughly by alcohol in a shadowy bedroom and spit forth delicious progeny as a result.

I wasn't sure what form this would take. My first inclination was to find precedent for soaking peppers in an alcoholic beverage, as I didn't expect anyone would be mad enough to attempt a mixed drink with this ubiquitous waxen seed-husk... but a bit of interweb sleuthing proved me wrong, oh so wrong. Behold! The Ultimate Bell Pepper Cocktail:

My initial version used the following:

• 2 bell pepper rings
• fresh mint leaves to approximate 1 tablespoon mint
• 1 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 oz. Dogfish Head Blue Hen Vodka
• 3/4 oz. Galliano liqueur

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint and one bell pepper ring with the grapefruit and lemon juice. Add ice, vodka and liqueur. Shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with bell pepper ring.

This ended up being far tastier than I expected. The profile of the pepper holds up well with the other flavors, and the result is a sweetly spicy taste of some complexity. Of course, enjoying this requires that one actually likes bell peppers. I offered Laura a sip, and her immediate response was "OMG IT'S HIDEOUS" and to gag and wave her hands in front of her mouth until I brought her a palate-flushing glass of ginger ale.

The original poster noted that serving such a drink out of a bell pepper seemed to be a messy and inconvenient idea... so I clearly had to go there. Behold! The Epic Ultimate Bell Pepper Cocktail:

• a whole bell pepper with a relatively balanced bottom
• fresh mint leaves to approximate 1 tablespoon mint
• 1 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 oz. Dogfish Head Blue Hen Vodka
• 3/4 oz. Galliano liqueur

Slice the top off of the pepper in one even layer, and gently core the central seed area out with a paring knife. Cut the central stem out from the top and discard. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint and the remaining pepper top with the grapefruit and lemon juice. Add ice, vodka and liqueur. Shake vigorously. Strain into the body of the bell pepper and serve.

Although admittedly gimmicky, this would be interesting for someone to try who was both "hosting a party" and had a surplus of bell peppers. The added advantage is that cleanup would be both easy and nutritious.

Now, to finish this alcohol-impregnated pepper...