homemade bloody mary mix

spring officially arrived on march 20th, and i have yet to officially acknowledge it here. (probably because it's barely broken 50 degrees in seattle in the last 6 weeks and that's a buncha--sorry, what? me? oh no no, i'm not bitter!)

so, a month late and without further delay, my spring 2011 posts will begin the way all things should--with a big ol' bloody mary.

bloody marys, full octane or virgin, embody everything i consider wonderful. rich, red tomato awesomeness, black pepper, salty brine, spice that makes your eyelids sweat just a little--YUM. i used to keep a bottle of mix on hand for a jolt of tomato/spice in the morning or as a mid-afternoon boost, but last summer decided to try making my own.

i started by juicing pounds and pounds of tomatoes using my juiceman, and froze the juice until i could get around to my project. last week i finally thawed some and went for it. ya know, it was really, really good! the juice simmered with chopped veggies for a while, then it was all blended into essentially a drinkable, spicy tomato salad. it tastes terrific on it's own as a juice, and is a great base for customizing your own bloody mary with more horseradish, worcestershire, black pepper, lemon, preserved lemon, lime, olives, pickled veggies, bacon, seafood--and the poison of your choice. (if you're really into heat, try adding a bit of hot monkey vodka from portland's new deal distillery, but be warned--you'll wanna take baby steps adding this stuff. it is seriously fiery!)

i've looked around online and realized that i could've just cooked my tomatoes down instead of put them through the juicer. i think next year i'll definitely try this approach, since the yield using the juice is kind of low--can't remember how many tomatoes it took to get a quart + a pint of juice, but it was plenty, and the juice cooked down to a quart of bloody mary mix. anything that adds to the yield is a good thing, if you ask me!

homemade bloody mary mix
makes about 1 quart
(all measurements approximate, and mostly "to taste." experiment with your own, and leave suggestions in the comments! i'm totally giving this another go in a couple of days!)

1 quart + 1 pint juice from fresh tomatoes
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1/4 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped and loosely packed
some salt, some fresh cracked pepper

combine all ingredients and simmer, partially covered, about 1 hour. vegetables should be very tender, juice should be slightly reduced. allow to cool a bit and blend until pureed. (may need to blend in batches.) don't blend hot! it will blow the top off of your blender and you'll be cleaning up tomato juice for weeks.

return to pot and taste. (i simmered a bit longer with the added spices--not sure if it was necessary, but i felt fine about it. ) add the following to taste:

more fresh cracked pepper
more salt
lemon juice (i added juice from almost 1 whole lemon)
couple of splashes of sherry vinegar
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce (make your own, it's stupid-good!)*
1 tsp prepared horseradish (put a little of the juice mixture in a bowl, whisk in the horseradish, then add the mix back to the pot for easiest integration.)
dashes of your favorite hot sauce

stir, taste, add. stir, taste, add. when ya like it, chill and enjoy as is, or wait until saturday morning and spike it up!

tomatoes and red bell pepper from last fall from alvarez farms

carrots from willie greens organics 

pint glass from one of our favorite stops in prosser, whitstran brewing!

*note: omit or use vegetarian worcestershire for a vegetarian/vegan version

cranberry-infused vodka

quel autumnal treat. cranberries get their tough skins popped with boiling water, then surrender their color and tart cranberry flavor to a bottle of vodka. the result is delicious, and absolutely beautiful.


cranberry-infused vodka

1 pint fresh cranberries
750 ml vodka (we used finlandia-- guy at the liquor store said it's best for infusions)
big ol' jar with tight-fitting lid

wash cranberries and remove any stems and leaves. in a large bowl, cover the berries with boiling water in order to pop the skins. they even make a popping sound!

drain the berries and put them in a jar big enough to hold 750 ml of vodka. pour in the booze. cover with tight-fitting lid, swish around, and let sit in a dark spot for about 3 weeks. taste periodically.  

this is the color after 23 days. so lovely!

line a colander with two layers of cheesecloth and position it over a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout. i used my 4-cup measuring bowl. strain vodka and pour it into a clean bottle for storing. 

i was serious about it being tart! this has a ton of cranberry awesomeness, but it needs a little something sweet added to any cocktail you make with it. i've imagined muddled sweet orange and a sprinkle of cinnamon, maybe a dash of simple syrup, but haven't tried anything yet. i gave half of this batch to rob's sister-- she's an adventurous cocktail mixer, so i'm hoping she'll come up with something great and tell me about it!

cranberries from eatonville farms

meyer lemon fest part 2: vodka infusions

i suspect that when the woman at true value hardware asked "what's your project?" as i paid for a box of half-gallon ball jars, she hoped the answer would be "preserving pears for the church" or something like it. when i answered "vodka infusions," she was visibly let down. but despite true-value lady's disapproval, this is a totally worthwhile project. for one, there's something that feels alchemic about it, putting simple ingredients together that will become so much more than the sum of their parts. second, though it takes a few days, there's precious little effort that goes into it. and third, following the transformation of flavor and color is exciting, even if, like me, you're not really into flavored vodkas!

i've been watching a lot of alton brown's show "good eats" on food network. several weeks ago i saw him make a tomato vodka that looked out of this world, and it got me thinking about some infusions of my own. and since meyer lemons and blood oranges were in season (ahem, in cailfornia... shhhh...), my flavors were practically picked out for me. 

first was meyer lemon with rosemary. i trimmed and thin sliced 3 lemons and tossed them in the jar, then cut the zest (yellow part only) from the ends i'd trimmed off and added it to the lemons. next went in a 6-inch piece of fresh rosemary i'd picked from down the street. (somehow, we live in the only house in seattle without a giant, ancient rosemary bush in the yard.) 

at the liquor store they'd told me that finlandia is the best vodka for making infusions, and i took their word for it. topped off the jar, tightened the lid, and stored away from direct sunlight for 4 days. 

i tasted each day, and each day the lemon flavor became a little stronger and the vodka flavor mellowed considerably. (save some of the original vodka and do comparison taste tests each day-- it's really cool!) i didn't want to let it sit too long, afraid that the pith would begin to infuse a bitter flavor, so on day 4 i strained everything out through 4 layers of cheesecloth. 

the lemon flavor was subtle and light, but the rosemary hadn't had enough time. i added another sprig of rosemary, this time smashing the needles a bit to bruise them so they would release more of their oils. the jar sat for another couple of days before i became impatient and strained the mixture into a clean glass bottle. the rosemary flavor is only enough to give the lemon a little dimension. i'll continue to experiment with woody herbs and get an idea of how long it really takes to get serious flavor from them.

for the blood orange infusion, i followed a similar formula. this time i peeled 2 oranges completely, removing all of the white pith. then sliced (really, the segments fell apart, so they weren't quite "sliced") and tossed in the jar. i removed the zest (again, only the orange part-- no white) from a third orange and added to the jar.

this time, i only filled the jar halfway with the vodka and let it sit for 10 days. again, i tasted every day until the flavor was what i wanted. the orange flavor is much stronger than the lemon, and is good for sippin'. i haven't tried mixing it into a cocktail yet, but i imagine it would be good in lots of recipes, including just served with a spritz of club soda and a twist. and it's just a lovely shade of magenta!

when summer comes, i totally want to try making a tomato infusion, and use cucumber to flavor both vodka and gin. other ingredients, just off the top of my head-- basil, mint, pepper, plum... i don't know, would strawberry or cherry be awful? in the fall, apple and pear would be totally yummy. but worry not-- i'm not looking to gulp down 30 gallons of vodka! no, instead, i think these will make excellent gifts. 

some good info at this link: http://www.cocktailtimes.com/party/vodka_infusion.shtml