Drinking With The Greenmarket: Spicy Bloody Mary

If you stopped by the Cortelyou Greenmarket this past Sunday to learn a thing or two about canning, you may have come away with a lot of tomatoes and some inspiration — or, maybe you just grabbed a couple of bright and delicious looking heirloom tomatoes ($4/pound) from Amantai Farm like I did.

Heirloom tomatoes can sometimes be very juicy, so if you slice them up for salads, sandwiches, or just snacking, you may end up watching a lot of that tasty liquid spill off your cutting board and go to waste. But if you plan ahead, you can save it and make yourself a incredibly fresh, incredibly easy, cocktail.

This is one of those “work with what ya got” recipes. Because tomatoes, jalapeños, and celery can all be found at the Greenmarket right now, that’s what we used. But if you’ve got pickles because you’ve grown too many cucumbers, try swapping one of those for the chilies, for example. I also have black vinegar on hand because I once tried to replicate the recipe that Talde in South Slope serves, but any vinegar will do.

Ingredients

• A few slices of jalapeño
• 1 tspn Chinese black vinegar
• 1/2 tspn white wine vinegar
• pinch of sugar
• 3 oz tomato juice
• 1-1/2 oz vodka
• wedge of lime
• 1 celery stalk

Place the jalapeño slices in a small sealable bag with the vinegars and sugar, mix it all up, and stick it in the fridge overnight, or for as long as you feel like waiting.

When you slice your tomatoes for other uses, place them in a strainer over a bowl to catch any excess liquid. You may need to press a few slices to get more as necessary.

Fill a tumbler with ice, and add the jalapeños and their pickling vinegar, the tomato juice, and the rest of the ingredients. Stir with that celery stalk, and cheers!

Got a recipe we should try that uses an ingredient from the Greenmarket? Let us know at editor@ditmasparkcorner.com.