Five Star Recipe

This summer was a strange one in our garden. The early spring was really wet so it was hard to get outside and get the garden boxes cleaned out. Then later when the weather was good, we were busy every weekend (yeah big surprise there). Finally, Fathers Day weekend, we finally got around to planting a few things. Tomatoes, poblano peppers, etc.

That’s super late to expect an epic harvest but the plants really took off so I was hopeful. Fruit set, the annual volunteer cherry tomatoes started feeding us all (yeah the dogs have learned to pick the low ones and munch away), the San Marzano and Russian Pink heirloom plants looked good and I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d still be able to make some tomato sauce to can.

Fast forward to October, a ton of green tomatoes, some ripe and weather of the wet and cold variety was on it’s way. I gathered the family up and got help picking every last tomato. Certainly not enough to make sauce, too many to eat fresh before they turn. What is a boy to do?

Bloody Mary mix of course. I’d be wanting to do this forever but never took the time. Today was the day. Here’s the process I took. I canned mine in a water bath but you could also refrigerate it and use it within a few weeks.

The first step was to make tomato juice. This is easy enough. I put them all in a large sauce pan, added just a little water, put the stove on medium and put the lid on. I came back in about 20 minutes and they had started to break down. I gave it another 15 minutes or so then brought out the food mill to remove the seeds and skins and there we had it, tomato juice. If you want to skip this step completely and buy tomato juice you certainly can but you know that garden fresh stuff is the best.

The recipe below is scaled for each three cups of tomato juice you have, multiply as needed (do the math before you drink too much).

• 3 c tomato juice
• 1 tbsp horseradish, prepared
• 1 tsp hot sauce (use your favorite, I used Louisiana Red Dot)
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire  sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp celery salt

I made enough for 4 pints on the maiden voyage of this recipe. I placed them in hot clean jars with two part lids and processed in a water bath canner for 20 minutes. Let them cool to room temp for 12 to 24 hours, remove the rings and store in a cool dark place.

To make that awesome bloody mary, add mixer to your favorite vodka (for a fun change, use Bakon Vodka for a smoky surprise) and ice and garnish as you’d like.