I don't cook. But I do eat. Hey, every chef needs an audience, right? You cook, we eat. I appreciate good cooking, and thank you.
On the other hand, I have a good recipe for a dry martini that's my own version of the one in the Cocktail Codex.
Ingredients:
2 jiggers Monkey 47 Gin - don't screw around, use really good gin!
1/4 jigger Dolin Dry Vermouth
2 dashes (not drops, dashes, don't be shy) Bittermen Hellfire bitters (a bit spicy, but WTF)
2 extra'large Spanish olives, with the olive juice allowed to drain unless you really, really want that 'dirty martini' thing which, in my opinion, screws up the drink
Chilled martini glass (Nick and Nora recommended, but any will do), I stick mine in the freezer ti chill it
Ice cubes
Stir (do not shake, it bruises the gin, so to hell with James Bond) and that ice, vermouth, gin and bitters with large cubes of ice until frost forms on the outside of the shaker. Strain into the martini glass. Put the olives on a long bar toothpick and stick 'em in the glass with the martini.
Note: Bitters are key to a good martini. Do not omit this crucial step.
Second note: A martini is a mixed drink, not a couple of shots of gin (or heaven forbid, vodka). The idea of pouring out all the vermouth and just stirring in the gin is stupid. Seriously. Include the vermouth or it ain't a martini. And...the martini is, as far as I'm concerned, a gin drink, not a vodka drink. The botanicals in gin matter. Good gin is key. Skip the vodka.
Enjoy a real-deal martini.
There ya go.
Yes, gin-bruising from shaking is real; it affects how the botanicals evaporate for some reason, and shaking results in a more gain-alcohol taste. IMHO this is one reason why most people shy away from gin martinis, much to their loss. James Bond was a fictional character, and while he was a pretty decent writer except for regrettable phrases like, 'Bondian moon rocket', Ian Fleming was a bad martini maker no doubt. OK, he was a crappy writer, but a good storyteller. Plus he worked for British intelligence in WWII and his character was semi-based on an actual guy from Central Europe, not England. In any case, don't buy into 'shaken, not stirred'.