Hi, I'm Rich Harris, and welcome back to my brunch series for Videojug.
In this episode I'm going to show you how to banish the beast of the night before with
my classic Bloody Mary.
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So for me the Bloody Mary is the archetypal hangover cure.
It's the one that's going to banish all those horrible feelings from the night before and
set you up for a good day.
I don't like to mess around too much with a Bloody Mary, so I want to use the best possible
ingredients.
That means using really, really good vodka, and really great seasonings.
If you start using cheap vodka that tastes like nail varnish remover it's going to make
you feel worse.
Whereas a really, really good, well distilled, crisp vodka is going to be clean, fragrant,
and have a nice little kick to it.
So, first thing to do is just fill a highball glass with ice.
Make sure you reserve a couple to wipe over your forehead and your neck.
And incidentally, a lot of the Videojuggers this morning in the office are feeling pretty
ropey, so this one's for them.
Then just take a good vodka and add about 50 ml, just a good glug, and just pour it
slowly over the ice.
The amount of vodka depends on how much you had last night I guess.
And you could remove the vodka altogether and just make a Virgin Mary.
And next up, just to top up with some fresh tomato juice.
Just pour that slowly over.
And then really, a Bloody Mary is all about the seasonings.
So what you want is a lovely balance of salty, sharp, sour, and a nice chili kick as well.
So for the chili kick, some tabasco sauce, I'll say five or six drops.
I like mine quite hot so I'm going to go maybe a bit more than that.
A few twists of fresh black pepper, and then just a few drops of Worcestershire sauce.
That's going to add lovely peppery notes, a good level of spice, and just kind of round
off the whole drink.
And then for a bit of seasoning, some celery salt.
This is really, really classic seasoning for a Bloody Mary.
Adds a good punch and a lovely layer of flavor, and goes really well with the vodka and the
tomato.
So just a pinch of that.
And then some lemon juice.
Take your lemon and give it a roll on the board, and that's going to soften the inside
and release a bit more juice.
Then just catch the seeds, add a little squeeze over the top.
So that sharpness of lemon juice is going to wake up your taste buds and make you feel
a whole lot better.
Next up, some fresh horseradish.
Try and use fresh horseradish if you can because it's really powerful.
It's got a lot of heat behind it and it's a great flavor.
If you're going to use jarred horseradish because you can't find fresh, don't use the
cream stuff because what you're going to find is that it makes your whole cocktail really
creamy and a bit kind of claggy, and you want those sharp, clear, clean flavors that are
going to banish your hangover.
Anything creamy is not going to make you feel too good.
So just finely grate that over the top.
It's going to go all over the place but just get as much as you can in the glass.
Now keeping traditional, just a celery stick.
It's not just for garnish, it's actually going to add flavor to the cocktail and is a nice
thing to use to stir it with.
But also, every now and again you can have a dip and a crunch.
So get your celery stick in there and just work everything together to really amalgamate
all those flavors.
And for a full list of ingredients, check out the description box.
And that's pretty much it.
But everybody's taste varies so have a little taste, see the way you feel.
Might need a bit more vodka, might need a little bit more chili, just keep adjusting
flavors.
And that's kind of the beauty of it really.
So, that's lovely, really fresh, zingy, there's a great kick the tobacco.
The vodka's clean and crisp, and the lemon has got a great zing to it as well.
Alright, that's almost perfect.
I think it just needs a little bit more celery salt.
That is just to my taste.
Always just adjust flavors to how you like it.
Some people don't like chili at all, some people like loads of it.
That's perfect, really fresh, vibrant, zingy.
It's so much more than just vodka and tomato juice in a glass.
It really is delicious and it's going to set you up for the day.
So that's it from me in this series.
I hope you've enjoyed the recipes.
And maybe I've given you a few ideas on how to banish those hangovers.
Look forward to seeing you back in the kitchen again soon.
Cheers.
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