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Betsylife » Recipes » Appetizers/Cocktails » Seasonal Potluck: Pickled Asparagus and Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

Seasonal Potluck: Pickled Asparagus and Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

May 6, 2011 By betsy 4 Comments

It’s happy hour Friday for Seasonal Potluck! When Kelley and I decided on asparagus for the month of May, we were definitely concerned about not being able to make cocktails with a vegetable. Well, Lo and behold, you can! Anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time knows that I LOVE bloody marys! I would say I probably consume at least one per week on average. I also love to pickle stuff so it was only natural that asparagus got the Betsy treatment. I read an article about pickling asparagus and ramps together (a ramp looks like a green onion but tastes like garlic). I thought this sounded like a great mix for a bloody mary so I went out and got some.

I’ve done long term pickling and short term pickling before. This time I opted for the quick, 48 hour pickle so I could enjoy these cocktails ASAP!

Pickled Ramps and Asparagus recipe adapted from Cooking Light

  • 2 cups white wine vinegar
  • 2 cups dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
  • 5 thyme sprigs
  • 5 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp szechaun peppercorns (a friend of mine brought back for me from China)
  • 1 tsp pickling spice
  • 12  ramps
  • 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3-inch pieces

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Remove and discard roots and outer leaves from ramps; rinse and drain ramps. Pat ramps dry; cut white bulb ends into 3-inch pieces. Reserve greens for another use. Add ramps to vinegar mixture; cook 2 minutes. Place asparagus in a large bowl. Pour hot vinegar mixture over asparagus; cool completely. Cover and chill 2 days.


Then it was time to make the bloody mary mix. I have made a gajillion bloody mary’s in my life, although I have never made a mix. It turned out to be easier than I thought. It’s pretty much everything I would add to a bloody mary anyway. I started to like bloody mary’s when I was in college and was bartending. One of my fellow bartenders convinced me that the key to a good bloody mary is a splash of guinness. He was right. Too bad I didn’t have any guinness today! I also prefer my bloody’s to be half Clamato, but today I mixed it up and went with vegetable juice (not tomato)

Bloody Mary Mix recipe

1 64 oz bottle 100% vegetable juice

3 T spicy brown mustard

3 T worcestershire sauce

2 T sriracha or other hot sauce

2 t. prepared horseradish

1 t. minced garlic

1 t. celery salt

1 t. ground black pepper

juice of one lemon

1 t. lime juice

1/2 t. chipotle chili powder (optional)

Whisk together all ingredients

Yum! The other keys to a good bloody mary is vodka (duh),an Old Bay rim (learned that one while vacationing in Maryland one year) and lots of pickled veggies (celery is so overrated)! Obviously, I did ramps and asparagus, but I’ve also done pickled green beans, pickled jalapenos, pickled okra, and pickled serranos (for The Hubs)

Have a GREAT weekend everyone! Be sure to link your asparagus recipes to our Seasonal Potluck link party, and tell your friends!!

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Filed Under: Appetizers/Cocktails, Recipes, Vegetarian/Health Food

Comments

  1. Kelley says

    May 6, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    Looks gooooooood girl! Yeah for asparagus and ramps!

    Reply
  2. Kimberli's Kitchen says

    May 8, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    Yummy yummy yummy!!! I’ve only found ramps in the market once this season… must search harder!

    Besty, stop on by to pick up your Versatile Blogger Award at http://kimberliskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-won-versatile-blogger-award.html
    Happy Sunday!

    Reply
  3. Brett says

    May 31, 2011 at 11:08 am

    I tried one of these yesterday. Good stuff. Looks like I’m going to be pickling asparagus this week in preparation for the weekend.

    Reply
  4. www.acorntown.com says

    September 21, 2014 at 7:16 am

    Hey there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?

    There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your
    content. Please let me know. Many thanks

    Reply

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