Bloody Mary Please! Share your secrets….
When you make your Bloody Mary’s from scratch….what do you add to set yours apart?
Do you have a unique Bloody Mary on your bar’s brunch or specialty menu?? What is the secret weapon ingredient?
August 27, 2008 by usbg
When you make your Bloody Mary’s from scratch….what do you add to set yours apart?
Do you have a unique Bloody Mary on your bar’s brunch or specialty menu?? What is the secret weapon ingredient?
One of my “secret ingredients” for a Bloody Mary is to add some chili powder to it. Not the spice mixture, but the type that is made just from ground dried chilies, which isn’t too hot.
It adds a wonderful depth of flavor which I think works really well.
And of course I think all Bloody Mary’s need to include celery salt, although I often don’t see many people use this when they make them from scratch.
i like to put chili powder in my bloodys too… but i use a good quality pre-mixed one.
as far as celery salt goes, on the other hand, i prefer to grind whole celery seeds and use kosher salt. that way i can control the amount of each individually.
i grind the black pepper from whole peppercorns too.
also, i like to add a tiny pinch of sugar and a splash of pickled pepper juice – spicy vinegar, yum!
and finally, i infuse dried chipotle peppers in vodka for a real unique and smokey treat.
Being a total whisky freak I tried Talisker 10 y old single malt which has big smoke and a Chipoltle-like chili kick of its own… a real Smoky Mary.
I use celery seed over celery salt as well. I also add English dry mustard, fresh lime juice, lemon pepper, paprika, worcestershire, tobasco, fresh grated horseradish root and a little bit of tomato paste to thicken it all up. The infused vodkas are great as well. I infuse my vodka with red bell, green bell, yellow bell, orange bell, purple bell, jalapenos, black and green peppercorns, celery leaves, Italian parsley and Basil. A prawn, pickle, pepperoni, lime, tear drop tomato and celery stalk make this bloody a full meal!
I use Asian ingredients in addition to the 3:1 Tomato Juice: V8 ratio. Wasabi Powder, Sriracha, Lemon, Rice Wine Vinegar, Fish Sauce and the secret ingredient? Sichuan Pepper Flowers. They add a nice herbal component and cause the tongue to tingle slightly. I bring the V8 to a boil, turn off the heat and steep them for 5 minutes,straining them out at the end.
Garnishes vary upon situation, but I’m still a fan of white anchovy-wrapped goat cheese. Yum!
I see more and more bartenders around the country making “clear” marys with tomato water.
They puree tomatoes & flavoring ingredients of their choice such as celery, hot peppers, garlic, onion, pickles, grated horseradish, herbs like dill or basil, etc. in a food processor and then add salt and roughly-cracked peppercorns.
Then they let the puree sit suspended refrigerated overnight in cheesecloth. The tomato water will collect slowly into a container underneath. Don’t press it. Use the pulp to make a pasta sauce or something.
But the clear, flavorful tomato water is now the base for your not-so-bloody mary.
My biggest problem with this: I love Worcestershire sauce in my marys. Perhaps I could freeze the Worcestershire sauce into ice cubes for this kind of “invisible” mary?
Perhaps a slight change of technique would coax your ingredients into meeting halfway…
Puree all ingredients and then pass them through a chinois (fine civ) with a 1oz ladle.
Take this liquid and then further strain it through a coffee filter placed in the civ or a china cap or whatnot. Do not push it through, though- let it drip.
This creates a much finer filter that catches many solids… not sure how effective it would be for worcestershire, though.
Also consider working with the worcestershire that is designed for chicken. It’s opaque.
I love that we are seeing more and more bars infusing their own vodkas and the Mary has benefited greatly from this. fresh, pickled, or chipotle jalapenos are great for infusing into this drink.
I like my bloody mary’s spicy with any chiles I can get my hands on but I also like to add fresh basil, celery seed and olive or pickled jalapeno juice to keep it savory. The trick is to not over salt which is easy to do with these ingredients.
I prefer to add lemon in place of the popular lime (thank you Dale DeGroff) for a cleaner taste.
And the most important part is to “roll” the drink in two metal tins to combine, do NOT shake vigorously in a Boston or 3-Piece.
Make it your own, make it fun and make it a meal. If you have a chef in your restaurant/club work together on it, the Bloody Mary crosses the line between bar and kitchen more than any other drink I know of.
I love that we are seeing more and more bars infusing their own vodkas and the Mary has benefited greatly from this. fresh, pickled, or chipotle jalapenos are great for infusing into this drink.
I like my bloody mary’s spicy with any chiles I can get my hands on but I also like to add fresh basil, celery seed and olive or pickled jalapeno juice to keep it savory. The trick is to not over salt which is easy to do with these ingredients.
I prefer to add lemon in place of the popular lime (thank you Dale DeGroff) for a cleaner taste.
And the most important part is to “roll” the drink in two metal tins to combine, do NOT shake vigorously in a Boston or 3-Piece.
Make it your own, make it fun and make it a meal. If you have a chef in your restaurant/club work together on it, the Bloody Mary crosses the line between bar and kitchen more than any other drink I know of.
My friend Justin Beam at Fearing’s restaurant at The Ritz Carlton, Dallas created this recipe using Shiner Bock and tortilla soup. Spectacular! The use of cachaça instead of vodka gave this classic cocktail a twist and depth that is unique.
2 oz. Leblon Cachaça with Dean’s Signature Bloody Mary Mix with Shiner Bock and Tortilla Soup
Garnished with Fresh Jalapenos, Tortilla Strips and Micro Cilantro
Our friends at Bouchon in Napa Valley are using Vignon (http://www.napaseasoning.com/) in their Bloody Mary. Totally cool and different…
Oh! And they are using Charbay Vodka… YUM