ALTHOUGH MOST OF us will not be at the actual Super Bowl, there is still a way to get a taste of it — with the same bloody mary recipe you’d find at Michael Mina’s Tailgate located at Levi’s Stadium. This recipe was created by Diane Mina (pictured), the chef’s wife, for the members-only club that provides a barbecue party for 49ers seat holders. Diane’s bloody marys are crafted by her mixology team using hand-milled heirloom tomatoes from her West Marin Bella Mina Gardens. She not only jars the puree from her black Russian tomatoes for use in her drinks, but she also grows other key ingredients, including a broadleaf herbaceous garnish called lovage. Luckily, you don’t have to own a tailgate membership to savor this super cocktail.
Diane Mina’s Bloody Mary
Makes one 8- to 10- ounce drink
Ingredients:
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime
- 2 dashes of Tajin (Mexican seasoning) or any other dry spice blend like Old Bay seasoning
- 2 ounces of vodka (or another spirit of choice)
- 5 ounces of premium tomato juice, or make your own from garden-fresh tomatoes
- 4 dashes of Tabasco
- 3–4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon of prepared horseradish (not the creamy kind)
- Pickled Peppadew pepper
- Pickled Spanish queen olive with pimento
- Pepper
To Prepare
- Pick out an 8- to 10-ounce glass. You can use a glass with a stem for a bit of elegance, a pint glass for a casual Sunday feel or a no-fuss rustic mason jar to showcase your concoction.
- Start with a small plate (bread and butter plate, small salad plate or a shallow bowl works well), and fill it with lemon or lime juice so that the whole lip or rim of the glass gets the citrus. Dip the rim of the glass into the juice.
- Dip the rim of your glass into your spice of choice and add ice to the glass (large cubes if possible to prevent the drink from becoming too watery).
- Add a premium spirit of choice (vodka, tequila, gin, whiskey or rum) to the glass.
- Add tomato juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire, horseradish, a teaspoon each of the pickled juices, and a squeeze of lemon and lime to the glass and stir.
- Garnish with two Spanish queen olives with pimentos, a few turns of pepper from a pepper mill, two dashes of the rim spice, a wedge of fresh lemon and lime and serve.
- TIP Some additional garnish suggestions: spicy pickled green bean, okra, asparagus stalk, a slice of bacon or beef jerky stick, poached shrimp, a cube of pepper jack cheese or a bacon-wrapped date.
