Sunday, Bloody Mary, Sunday

My favorite cocktail has to be a bloody mary...  Spicy, vodka-y, can pass it off as a "vegetable" on the food pyramid and feel like you're being a health nut...  What's not to love?

Zinburger's Bloody

This Bloody Mary came from Zinburger in Tucson...  I've adapted it to take what was best about theirs and best about my own recipe.

Start with a good quality vodka.  In general, I prefer regular Absolut.  I'm not into the Absolut Peppar. I find it too, well, peppery.  If you want to be saucy, and I know you probably do, look for a bacon-infused vodka.  It is available at specialty liquor stores and maybe a really alcoholic-prone neighborhood grocery store.  Zinburger was using this according to the waitress who really needed to rethink that scrunchie hair thing:

Confession:  I am not actually a big bacon fan.  This has that smoky infused taste.  I never would have picked it out as being "pork product" which just sounds so, so wrong.  Now, of course, you could make your own bacon-infused vodka, but we will save that lesson for another day...

Jules' Bloody Bar

Okay, so fill a tall glass (and for the love of God, use real glass, not plastic, unless you are by my pool where *certain people* necessitated a no-glass rule) with ice.  Add 1-2 shots (I go with two, so should you) of your vodka of choice.  (I personally think it is better to have vodka stored in the freezer.  It makes it taste crisper.)  Then fill the glass halfway with a good quality tomato juice which you have shaken well.  Next, fill the glass to about an inch from the top with Clamato.  I like the regular stuff, not the spicy version, because you are going to be adjusting your spices anyway.  This is your base.

Add a small amount of horseradish, 4 dashes of Worcestershire (I use Lee and Perkins), a squeeze of lime (then throw the whole thing in), two dashes of tabasco (a bit more if you like it spicier), two dashes of celery salt, and a couple of cracks of pepper.  I then use a piece of celery to mash it together like no tomorrow.  When you think you are done, keep going.  Top it off with a little bit more Clamato and then give it another smash around with the celery.  If you have a martini shaker, that is actually better, because it "bruises" the vodka and opens up the flavors, but it isn't necessary.  You can also do this with two glasses, but I don't recommend this after consuming the first one.  It can get messy, fast.

You can garnish however you please:  a strip of crispy bacon as above, a lime wedge, a "sword" of olives, dill or sweet pickle, bar onions, pickled asparagus, pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, or celery.  All of them at once might be a shade of overkill, but I won't judge you.  For that.

I'm not a huge fan of a salted rim because this is already a salt blast.  Now a savory rim is another story:  Basically you mix garlic powder, celery salt, chili powder, and coarse ground sea salt.  You then wet the edge of your glass (with a paper towel or dishcloth) and dip the glass into the mixing bowl.  You can save the mix in a plastic bag for the next time.  Which will probably be in about half an hour.  At the most.

Cheers!