Bloody Mary Shots with Avocado Toasts

The holiday season is creeping up on us. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, it's all just around the corner and I am ready! Well, ready in spirit at least.

For obvious reasons, I love this time of year. There is always so much going on and so much of it involves entertaining with good food. Dinner parties, work parties, family get togethers etc...

These Bloody Mary shots and accompanying toasts are perfect for the party season! They deliver the "wow" factor along with maximum taste, all with minimal effort. The avocado toasts are fabulous on their own. The two combined; however, compliment each other beautifully. The tangy tomato juice, with it's spicy zing, is cleverly balanced out by the rich and creamy avocado toasts.

Having said that; it is surprisingly easy to make a bad Bloody Mary, especially for beginners. So, until you're comfortable with your bartending abilities, here are a few tips:
Always use 100% Tomato juice. Do not use V-8.
Good quality vodka is a must!
Seasonings such as celery salt and black pepper are essential.
Experiment with other key ingredients such as Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce to get an idea of your preferred ratio (see below). And finally, try to chill the mixture for as long as possible (preferably overnight) to allow all the flavours to mingle.

There is no rule as to how much Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice you should use, it all comes down to personal taste. I never skimp on the Tabasco though, as I like my Bloody Mary's with a kick! You could always make up a batch with all the ingredients minus the Tabasco. This way your guests can add as much or as little as they please? For this recipe I have stated the quantities that suit my taste. Feel free to adjust.

You can always make your Bloody Mary a Virgin Bloody Mary if you want to skip the alcohol. I'm sure it will taste just as good!

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Serves approximately 4-6 (depending on the size of your glasses)

Bloody Mary Mix:
500 ml 100% Tomato Juice
1 tsp horseradish
4 tbls vodka
1 tbls Tabasco ( This is more like a punch and a kick, so less if you're not up for it )
1 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tbls lemon juice
1/4 tsp celery salt
Finely ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Avocado Toasts:
1 large avocado
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 small English cucumber, finely diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 lemon
Olive oil
8-12 Slices of a long, skinny baguette

Mix all Bloody Mary ingredients together and chill until needed.
Half the avocado, carefully scoop out the flesh with a spoon and finely dice. Mix the cucumber, tomato, red onion and avocado together with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of salt. Rub each toasted bread slice with a little olive oil. Spoon avocado mixture evenly onto the bread slices. Serve two toasts with each shot of Bloody Mary. Garnish with cucumber spears and enjoy!

Sunblush Tomatoes

These Sunblush tomatoes also known as (semi dried tomatoes) are simply divine. What is the difference between 'semi dried' and 'sun dried' you ask? Well the answer is really very simple. Sun dried tomatoes are fresh ripe tomatoes that are placed in the sun to remove almost all of their water content. In Italy fresh tomatoes were placed on tile roof tops as a way to preserve them for the winter. This technique is still used today but mainly for commercial use. Unlike Sunblush tomatoes the sundried variety are somewhat unattractive. They tend to resemble little shriveled pieces of chewed red leather. They can, however be a joy to eat but they usually have to be soaked in water for a while or doused in large amounts of olive oil in order for them to soften somewhat.

Personally, I prefer Sunblush tomatoes. These babies are semi dried and removed from the heat at the half way stage resulting in a less chewy and instead a more plump and semi juicy tomato. They have an intense sweet summer flavour that will have you hooked from the minute you taste them. Try them with bread, cheese (especially goat's cheese), salads, pasta, sauces, or as part of an Antipasti.

Sunblush tomatoes are still largely undiscovered. However, they are available from good delicatessens at specialty supermarkets. Available for a small fortune that is! So skip the trip and make them yourself with these very cheap and very simple ingredients.

Although this recipe requires that you use a rather large amount of tomatoes, you will actually only end up with about 1 to 1- 1/2 cups of the finished product. However, because they posses so much flavour you won’t need to use as many at a time as you would regular tomatoes.

You will need:

2lbs of cherry tomatoes (about two punnets)
3 tbls olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 heaped tsp dried thyme
1/4 heaped tsp caster sugar (superfine)

Preheat oven to 225 F

Cut tomatoes in half and arrange cut side up on a large baking tray lined with a baking mat or parchment paper.

Drizzle over the olive oil and then sprinkle evenly with the salt, sugar and thyme.

Place in the preheated oven and leave for at least 4 hours. The finished tomatoes should be somewhat dry but still a little juicy. They should look like this when they are done.

When ready, spoon the tomatoes into a sealable container with any remaining oil. Top up with a little extra olive oil if desired. They will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, although being as delicious as they are it is impossible to keep them around for that long! Enjoy!