Has it been long enough since New Year’s Eve to start thinking about liquor-based drinks again? I actually made these beauties before NYE (they helped to sustain me through 5 days of my Nashville madness, I’m still buzzing from that trip!), but I hadn’t had a chance to post them yet. It was probably for the best; after a week straight of good times, it’s been nice to have some sober solo time. But for your Sunday brunch or “hair of the dog” libation, here are two versions of the bloody mary for your consideration and inspiration.
Spicy Classic Bloody Mary
This drink is quite spicy – which does a wonderful job of hiding the fact that it is also very, very strong. Be forewarned; more than one or two of these and you will, in fact, be quite tipsy.
Ingredients
(1) The Bloody Mary Mix
Spicy classic bloody mary ingredients (hot V8 juice, Absolut Peppar vodka, Worchester sauce, Sriracha sauce, horeseradish, & Old Bay
- 1 container of Spicy Hot V8 tomato juice (about 6 cups)
- 2-3 cups Absolut Peppar vodka
- 2 teaspoons Worchester sauce
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce (“rooster sauce”)
- 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
(2) Rimming the Glasses
- Old Bay seasoning
- Ground pepper
- Lemon wedges
(3) Garnishes – be creative! I used the following:
- Celery stalks
- Pickled green beans
- Pimento-stuffed olives
- Spicy pickle chips
- Banana pepper rings
- Lemon wedges
Some bloody mary garnish ideas: celery, pickled green beans, olives, pickle chips, & banana peppers
If you’re hosting a brunch, though, I love the idea of going overboard: bacon strips, jalapeño poppers, cheddar cheese cubes, blue cheese stuffed olives, pepperoni, oysters, pickled peppers, jerk tofu for the vegetarians, on and on!
Preparation
Rim the glass with lemon juice, Old Bay, & pepper
(1) Dump all the “Bloody Mary Mix” ingredients into a big pitcher and stir well. Note: obviously feel free to adjust all things to taste. I went with 3 cups vodka and a couple extra squirts of Sriracha sauce because I like it *strong* in every sense. Remember, you can always add more!
(2) Rub a lemon wedge around the rim of each glass and roll it in a shallow dish of Old Bay seasoning and ground pepper until the rim is coated.
(3) Pour in the bloody mary mix (pre-chilled, gently rolled on ice, or into a glass filled with ice cubes)
(4) Have fun with the garnishes!
* This makes about 6-8 servings, depending on how big the glasses you use are!
The Spicy Classic Bloody Mary! Enjoy!
Green Tomatillo Mary
I was having a little too much fun sampling the Spicy Classic Bloody Mary while I was making the tomatillo mary recipe, but I jacked it from Martha Stewart anyway, so I’ll refer you to her for the pretty pictures of the final product. I modified her recipe slightly to fit my tastes, which basically means that I made it spicier and with more vodka. Win! People less full of shenanigans may wish to stick to the original, but this is my take.
Ingredients
The main ingredients for the Green Tomatillo Mary: tomatillos, cucumber, jalepeno, and lime
(1) The Tomatillo Mary Mix
- 2 lbs tomatillos (husked, rinsed, and chopped)
- 2 medium cucumbers (chopped)
- 3 jalapeño chiles (seeded and chopped)
- 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 4 limes) – or, since this is a huge pain, just use the bottle stuff! I wish I had!
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups premium vodka
(2) Rimming the Glasses
- Lime wedges
- Salt
- Cayenne Pepper
(3) Garnishes – all of the ideas from the “Spicy Bloody Mary” recipe above would work! For some reason, though, this drink seemed suited to less pickled stuff, and I also like using non-green colors for contrast. So I’d suggest the following as fun new ideas:
- Cubed white cheese like pepper jack
- Cocktail onions
- Cherry tomatoes
- Pepperoncini
- Roasted red bell peppers
- Colorful chili peppers
- Bites of steak or ham
- Water chestnuts
Preparation
The Green Tomatillo Mary mix blended up with Ketel One vodka. Because we’re classy here.
(1) Puree tomatillos, cucumber, jalapeños, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor, adding in vodka about half a cup at a time, until smooth.
(2) Rub a lime wedge around the rim of each glass and roll it in a shallow dish of salt and cayenne pepper until the rim is coated.
(3) Pour in the tomatillo mary mix (pre-chilled, gently rolled on ice, or into a glass filled with ice cubes)
(4) Have fun with the garnishes!
* As with the first recipe, this will make 6-8 servings, depending on your glass size.
So after taste-test experimenting with these delicious beverages for several hours (for the good of the blog!) I was, shall we say, a bit silly. As in, I found a self-portrait of me dressed in my Slash top hat (and wearing aviators, no less) on my cell phone the next day, and my night ended with me on the floor singing Killswitch songs. Don’t say I didn’t warn you: these drinks are strong.
Shockingly, I did look as cool or sexy as shirtless Slash in my bloody mary induced self-portrait
On the bright side, I have vowed to start using my real camera for future posts! (Heck, maybe I’ll finally sort out the formatting too!) So enjoy these grainy cell phone pics while you can; hopefully they will be few and far between in 2013. Bottoms up!
