Bloody Mary!
My Christmas gift to you this year, is my family’s Bloody Mary recipe! If you subscribe to my newsletter then this is old news. However, I’m feeling charitable and in the spirit of Christmas have decided to gift it to you! This recipe may be more involved than the others you’ve found hanging around the corners of the internet but I promise, this one is the best.
Ingredients:
5 Cups Low Salt V8
3 Cups Clamato Juice
1/2 a jar of Horseradish (more if you’re Russian)
10 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 TSP Seasoned Salt (add more as needed)
1 TBS of Anchovy Paste
1 TBS Toasted Celery Seed
10 grinds of White Pepper
Fresh Lime Juice from 3 limes
5 dashes of Tabasco Sauce
10 dashes Celery Bitters
Method
In a sauce pan, toast celery seeds over low heat until fragrant. After they’ve cooled, combine all ingredients a large pitcher, starting with your dry ingredients and finishing with V8. Stir until thoroughly combined and set in the fridge overnight.
Ideally, I’d have it sit for two days but as this is the holidays, don’t stress yourself out about it. I always say- if it tastes good, drink it. All cocktails, especially Bloody Mary’s, are subjective. It’s an art, not a science so feel free to measure with your heart!
Some notes on the recipe:
NEVER use creamed Horseradish sauce. That’s just wrong.
If you use regular V8, be careful about how much salt you add. Taste it before you add additional salt, increasing a little at a time.
For citrus, fresh is best so if you want to squeeze half a lime directly into your glass and then top with your Bloody Mary mix be my guest.
If you can’t find celery seed, swap the season salt for celery salt.
When picking celery for your garnishes, make sure you pick one that is a bright green color and feels heavy for it’s size. That means it’s dense with water and will be a crunchy addition to your garnishes!
A note on garnishing:
In addition to the classic celery stick, and if your family is as extra as mine, you will have spent this past weekend pickling every vegetable you could get your hands on. This year we’ve pickled: asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, cranberries, green beans, and green tomatoes. If you are as adventurous as we are you can try to do this yourself by blanching all your vegetables and then jarring them in vinegar with fresh dill, black peppercorns, coriander, and turmeric! However you garnish your bloody, may it be abundant, absurd, and a meal all unto itself!