Cocktail Hour: Bloody Mary

Lost in Translation...
Setting: West Andrews Hall Common Area, Brown University, Providence, RI

Me: What are y'all going to do with the potlikker?

First-Year College Student A:  Liquor?!?!?  There isn't any liquor in the pot.  We don't put alcohol in our food!

Me:  No, not alcohol.  The potlikker that's produced from cooking down the vegetables.

First-Year College Student A: How is it spelled?

Me:  I dunno.

First-Year College Student A:  Well, liquor is spelled l-i-q-u-o-r and it refers to alcohol.  There is liquid in the pot.  It's a liquid not pot liquor.

Interestingly enough, the second definition for liquor, noun usage on freedictionary.com is "a rich broth resulting from the prolonged cooking of meat or vegetables, especially greens.  Also called a pot liquor."

If I had my choice, this Bloody Mary would be garnished with pickled okra.  In the Deep South, you can find pickled okra at most major grocery stores, but it's nearly impossible to find in Baltimore.  As I searched to no avail, I triggered my monthly Déjà vu and I've resolved to start ordering my southern speciality food items online and avoid the hassle of calling and perusing local grocery stores, only to be disappointed.

In my former life as a bartender, I'd always have people coming into the bar, first thing in morning, on the weekends to order a Bloody Mary (the drink is widely thought to help alleviate hangovers by replenishing the body with vitamins and minerals).   I would have seasoned drinkers complimenting me on the quality and taste of my Bloody Mary cocktails, and there's no better boost to one's confidence.  I decided to revisit the classic cocktail and remix it by adding the nutrient-dense elixir of life, potlikker.

Bloody Mary 

Ingredients:

• 6 oz Mr & Mrs T Bold & Spicy Blood Mary Mix with jalapeno, chipotle & cayenne peppers
• 4 oz vodka
• 1 oz potlikker (from collard greens)
• 2 dashes Tabasco
• 2 dashes angostura bitters
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• Ice
• Premium blue cheese stuffed olives, carrot stick, red bell pepper, and lime wedge as garnish

Directions:

Add the Bloody Mary mix, vodka, potlikker, Tabasco, angostura bitters, Worcestershire sauce and ice to a highball glass.  Cover with a cocktail shaker and shake until a thin layer of frost appears on the outside of the shaker.  Allow the cocktail to settle in the highball glass.  Add extra ice if needed.  Garnished with blue cheese stuffed olives, a carrot stick, red bell pepper strip and lime wedge.  Enjoy!