Recipe: Cocktail features just-squeezed tomato juice
The Fresh Bloody Mary has a lighter, more refreshing texture than the classic cocktail, which uses canned juice. Debbie Arrington
Making fresh tomato juice is easy; all it takes is a blender and really ripe tomatoes.
With this recent heat wave, tomatoes are nearly exploding with juice. Besides “juice tomatoes” bred specifically for their high water content, several common fast-maturing varieties work well for juice, too. That includes Early Girl, Ace, Celebrity and Better Boy. Round tomatoes tend to yield more juice than beefsteaks.
Some cooks suggest adding a few plum tomatoes for added body and thicker texture. Beloved for sauces, plum tomatoes such as Roma have fewer seeds and less water than other varieties.
Fresh tomato juice tastes and looks a little different than store-bought processed canned tomato juice. Fresh “squeezed” is not exposed to heat, so it stays a brighter, lighter, pinkish color, depending on variety. It also contains no added sugar or preservatives. Tomato juice can be frozen or used in tomato-based sauces, soups and other recipes.
Peeling the tomatoes is optional; the peel adds more color and fiber. The same goes for straining the juice for seeds.
What to do with that fresh juice? Try it in a Fresh Bloody Mary.
Cheers to ripe tomatoes!
Fresh tomato juice
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 pound very ripe tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Wash and core tomatoes. Chop tomatoes into quarters or eighths, depending on size. Put chopped tomatoes in blender or food processor. With the back of a wooden spoon, mash some of the tomatoes to release some juice. Process until tomatoes become liquified. Add salt and pepper to taste; pulse a few times to blend.
Use immediately or store in refrigerator.
Fresh Bloody Mary
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh tomato juice
3 ounces vodka
Juice of ½ lime
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce or to taste
1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
¼ teaspoon celery salt
Celery stalks for garnish
Instructions:
In an ice-filled shaker, add all ingredients. Shake until blended.
Pour into tall ice-filled glasses. Add celery for garnish. Enjoy!
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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