We’ll never make our own vodka, tobasco sauce, or worcestershire sauce. But at least we are using our own tomatoes and horseradish! Still, this is just lovely. We ran out of wine the other night (horrors!) and Frank whirred up a batch of these and it reminded me of summer. Soon we will have summer!
When I can tomatoes, mine are always too watery. I don’t always use paste tomatoes and I often stick them in jars when they are frozen because it’s easier to get the skins off that way. But I figure no one is going to see what they look like, it’s faster and I’m not entering any beauty contests, right? This year I’m going to grow more paste tomatoes to cut down on the watery bit, but man I like the taste of regular heirloom tomatoes, even if it’s ugly.
We also canned our own horseradish this year and wow is it good. I made a “horseradish sauce” which Frank labeled “fancy”. He did the bulk of the preservation, just plain horseradish, put into glass jars and frozen. What a champ! Several times last fall the house was so filled with the fumes from horseradish that we had to open the windows and step outside. It sure cleaned out our sinuses! We should split the plant next year. It is finally growing, only after trying three or four times. (You know your soil sucks when you can’t grow horseradish, and yes, I did kill it one time with the tractor. Oops!)
Here’s his recipe for a Bloody Mary, Mack Hill Style:
1 quart jar home canned heirloom tomatoes
16 ounces vodka
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ground horseradish
1 teaspoon black pepper
Put it all into a blender, whir until done. Serve over ice.
I find of like the crunchiness that comes from the tomato seeds and celery seeds. Yum!
Do you grow hot peppers at all? Robyn Anderson has a recipe on bitchypoo.com for hot sauce- and it looks pretty easy…. if you Wanted to make your own tabasco.