Last weekend, over the labor day holiday weekend, my husband and I escaped the hot KC summer and traveled to the amazing scenery of New Mexico. We were celebrating our NINTH wedding anniversary. It was magical. We spent several days in Taos and then ended our vacation in Santa Fe. I’m absolutely in love with the area. How could you not be???
The mountains.
The locals.
The adobes.
The FOOOOD!
It was prime time for roasting fresh hatch chiles! Everywhere we went, I had green chile and red chile sauce (christmas style…which means both) slathered on everything. I couldn’t get enough, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, chile on chile on chile. I luckily brought back some fresh hatch chiles that I was able to snag at the Taos Farmers Market.
We came home to a plethora of tomatoes in our garden. The end of August and September typically leave most gardeners with so many tomatoes that you are looking for new and different ways to use them. So I have a handy dandy new recipe idea for you and all your ton o’ tomatoes…Bloody Mary Mix. Ya..you heard me. I will be showing you how to use all of those tomatoes to make fresh tomato juice for your own homemade Bloody Mary Mix.
One really easy way to make tomato juice is using a juicer. Williams-Sonoma has a plethora of great juicer options (droooool). Unfortunately, I do not have a juicer. So I decided to puree my tomatoes (along with some onion, green chiles, and celery) and pass the puree through a sieve or fine mesh to separate the juice from the solids. I was able to get 8 cups of juice from 12 cups of diced tomatoes.
And DON’T THROW AWAY THOSE SOLIDS…seriously. Make fresh and easy salsa with the tomato solids! Two recipe dishes for one effort! I added a handful of cilantro, a diced onion, diced jalapeños, lime juice, and salt to taste. Bam…salsa. A snack to go with your brunch drink. Amazing.
Additionally, I have included canning instructions below so that you can preserve your awesome homemade Bloody Mary Mix and drink it forever give it as gifts (if you can dare part with this amazing elixir). If you don’t have much canning equipment, check out this awesome selection of canning and preserving equipment from Williams-Sonoma too (double drool).
My homemade Bloody Mary Mix recipe has a New Mexican spin since I added roasted hatch green chiles. I roasted my own chiles by placing them over an open gas flame. The smokey hatch chiles provide a nice smokey addition of flavor! Warning – be careful when adding additional hot sauce to your Bloody Mary Mix because some hatch chiles can be HOT HOT HOT.
If you want to put up several jars of this Bloody Mary Mix, pint-sized jars of homemade Bloody Mary Mix make a great gift. I know I would LOVE to get this mix as a gift. Oh ya. To make a great gift set, include the following:
- Pint sized jar of Homemade Bloody Mary Mix (sealed and processed through hot batch canning)
- Jelly jar of pickled green tomatoes (sealed and processed through hot bath canning) or a jar of jalapeño stuffed olives
- Tiny baggy of kosher salt, ground pepper, and smoked paprika for the rim
- Mini bottle of vodka
Voila! Best brunch gift ever. Be sure to include directions for mixing up the homemade drink. One pint jar will make at least TWO Bloody Marys.
Note – the Homemade Bloody Mary Mix may start to separate (solids and liquid). This is ok…no big deal. Just swirl the mix prior to preparing your drinks. This may not be an issue if you use a juicer.
Homemade Bloody Mary Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 cups of diced ripe tomatoes and juice
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 3 stalks of celery plus leaves, chopped
- 2 fresh roasted hatch green chiles (or 4 oz canned green chiles) (optional)
- juice of 2 limes and 2 lemons
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of grated fresh horseradish or prepared bottled horseradish
- 2 to 3 tablespoons gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon celery salt
- 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Hot sauce (such as Sriracha), to taste
- 1/4 cup pickle juice (spicy pickle juice is super good)
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 cups of vodka
- Rim Seasoning: kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, smoked paprika
- Optional Garnish: olives, jalapeño stuffed olives, pickled green tomatoes, lime wedges
Instructions
- Make Fresh Tomato Juice – Place chopped tomatoes, onion, celery, and roasted hatch chiles in a blender or food processor and puree. This will likely need to occur in batches. Pass the pureed mixture in batches through a food mill or through a fine mesh sieve, capturing the juice in a large container. You should have about 8 cups of tomato juice. Set solids aside to make this salsa. (Alternately to using a blender, you can use a juicer and juice the tomatoes, celery, shallot, and chiles).
- Make Mix – Add lemon juice, lime juice, grated horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, and celery salt to the fresh tomato juice. Add hot sauce, salt, and fresh cracked pepper to taste. (To can and preserve the Bloody Mary Mix, see canning instructions below).
- Assemble Drinks – Mix 1 tablespoon each of salt, ground black pepper, and smoked paprika on a small flat plate. Dip the rim of each glass in water or lemon juice and then dip the rim of each glass in the paprika-salt mixture and twist the glass. Fill each 8 ounce glass with ice to the rim. Pour 1 ounce of vodka and top off with bloody mary mix in each glass. An extra splash of hot sauce and pickle juice tastes grand. Be sure to swirl around all the ingredients using a spoon or chopsticks.
- Garnish – Top and garnish the drinks as you wish…with limes, lemons, jalapeño stuffed olives, hot sauce, pickled green tomatoes, pickled green beans, bacon… ya bacon. It’s endless possibilities.
Canning Instructions: (See this tutorial on canning instructions for great details)
- Clean and heat canning jars. Simmer lids for 10 minutes at around 180 F water. Preheat the water bath to a rolling boil.
- Fill pint-sized jars with Bloody Mary Mix, leaving 1/4-inch head space at the top of the jar. Wipe rim of jars.
- Apply the lids and screw on the canning rings.
- Lower the pint jars into the boiling water canning bath using a jar rack. Allow the water to come back to a gentle boil. Place lid on canning bath and process pint jars for at least 45 minutes. (Note – If you’re canning a small batch of jars, it is best to use a smaller pot to process your jars to reduce breakage.)
- Remove from canning water bath using tongs. Allow to cool to room temperature. After your jars have cooled, check the seal by pressing down on the center of the lid. If the lid does not move and is concave, then you have a good seal. However, if the lid moves when pushed, then there is a bad seal and the jar needs to be processed again.
BIG EATS tiny kitchen 