Bloody Mary Aspic Recipes

CLASSIC BLOODY MARY

Steps:

• Salt the rim of a tall glass. To do so, pour salt onto a small plate, moisten the rim of the glass on a damp towel and press into the salt. Fill the glass with ice cubes.
• In a cocktail mixer full of ice, combine the vodka, vegetable juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper. Shake vigorously and strain into the glass. Garnish with a stalk of celery and olives stuck onto a toothpick.

THE A&E BLOODY BULL+

Steps:

• Add the Bloody Mary mix, lemon juice, sambal, and Worcestershire sauce to your blender carafe and blend on medium high for 3 seconds. Strain through a fine wire strainer or sieve into a bowl or large measuring cup. Depending on the strainer, you may need to coax the liquid through with a ladle or large spoon. Discard the solids. Your yield should be between 24 and 28 fluid ounces.
• Combine the strained mixture with the stock and the vodka and serve over the rocks or shake to chill and serve straight up with the garnish of your choice.
• Now, that's enough for a small party but here's what we do: We split the batch in half, which leaves 20 fluid ounces. This is what goes into the aspic. Here's how.
• Pour half a cup of the Bloody Mary into a wide bowl or cup, sprinkle the gelatin over it, then whisk it in. Now here's the thing...when Elizabeth and I did this, we only used 2 teaspoons of gelatin, but our stock was super concentrated, so it brought a fair amount of gelatin to the party. If your stock is homemade, odds are you could use as little as 2 teaspoons (8 grams) of gelatin, but if you go with 3 teaspoons (same as 1 tablespoon or 12 grams), then you absolutely know it will set. So...judge accordingly.
• Allow the gelatin to "bloom" in the cold mixture for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, whisk it again and microwave on high for 1 minute. Then stir and check the temperature, which should ideally be between 130 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Whisk the gelatin mixture into the remaining 16 fluid ounces of Bloody Mary and pour into a shallow glass or metal pan, any vessel that results in a 1/2-inch depth (an 11-by-7-inch baking dish is perfect). Refrigerate at least 3 hours to set.
• To serve, it's easiest to cut in the pan using a butter knife or small metal spatula. Scoop out the cubes and serve either on a salad or, as we do...on shucked oysters. I also like them on cottage cheese, but let's face it...I'm strange.

BLOODY MARY ASPIC

Steps:

• Cook shallots and celery in olive oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add puréed tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, and celery seeds and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes. Pour tomato mixture through a sieve lined with dampened cheesecloth into a clean 3-quart saucepan, pressing hard on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Bring tomato broth just to a boil, then remove from heat and stir in Worcestershire sauce.
• While tomato broth comes to a boil, stir together lemon juice and vodka in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over vodka mixture. (Spoon vodka mixture over any powdered gelatin remaining on top.) Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Lightly oil a 1 1/2- to 2-quart nonreactive shallow baking pan (2 inches deep).
• Add gelatin mixture to hot tomato broth, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Pour into baking pan and chill, uncovered, until firm, at least 6 hours.
• To unmold aspic, run a small sharp knife around edge, then dip baking pan into a larger pan of warm water, 15 to 20 seconds. Put a cutting board over baking pan, then carefully invert aspic onto board and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.