Cremona's Kitchen

Two years ago, it was brunch time.  Matt and I decided to venture outside the Northeast and went to Edina for eggs and bloodies. It was just ok.  Our bloodies were just glorified V8s with a mini pickle.  I left disappointed and thirsty.  After living within a mile from a bar with the Helen of Troy of bloodies for four years, I had yet to find a replacement since I moved to the Twin Cities.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying.  My google history was riddled with “best Bloody Marys in Minneapolis.” And I dragged Matt to try every single one of the proclaimed  best bloodies.  Each one fell short.

“Seriously, how hard is it to find the best Bloody Mary in Minneapolis!” I complained on our drive home from brunch. “I’m starting to think the Twin Cities just doesn’t have one.”

And that’s how this blog started. “Why don’t you rate all the bloodies we’ve tried on a blog so other people in the cities can rely on your expertise,” Matt suggested.

This blog has now transformed from rating bloodies into my outlet to learn to cook.  Nevertheless, my original idea behind this blog hasn’t completely been lost. And as it turns out,  I sleep next to the mixologist who has created the world’s best bloody–Matt.  It took several years of trial and error, but we finally have perfected what we believe to be the greatest bloody recipe.  And it would be a sin not to share that recipe with the world.

Ingredients

• One shot of Vodka
• Clamato juice (trust me here. clamato over tomato)
• Worcestershire sauce (two or three shakes)
• Tabasco sauce (two or three shakes–to taste)
• Pickles with juice
• Olives with juice
• Pickled Brussels sprouts, asparagus, string beans, anything really pickled (optional)
• Celery
• Pepper jack cheese
• Beef stick/summer sausage
• Spices–I use Johnny Velvet Bloody Mary mix– (salt, pepper, garlic power, onion salt, celery salt, paprika, cayenne pepper)
• Beer–no bloody mary is complete without a beer chaser

Directions

Fill glass with ice.  Add vodka, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce.  Sprinkle the spices until the ice cubes have a light dusting.  Next, add the juices from your pickled toppings.  The amount of juice per topping will depend on how many toppings you have.  You will want at least 1/3 of your glass to be pickled juices.  Generally, we put two Tablespoons of pickle juice, 1 Tablespoon of olive juice, and 3/4-1 Tablespoon of the remaining juices.

Before adding the clamato juice, place all topping in the glass (cheese, meat, celery, pickles, olives, etc).  This will ensure that your drink doesn’t overflow when you add in the clamato.

Fill glass to the brim with clamato juice.  Mix drink with the celery.  Pour yourself a glass of beer for your chaser and enjoy!