Be Good To Yourself

Be good to yourself.

This is a sexy refreshing cocktail that I made out of whatever we happened to have on hand.  The green stuff is fresh basil.  (Or do you say "baah sil"?)  No, you don't because that would sound stupid and pretentious.  Ahh screw it.  If it makes you laugh, do whatever you want.  We're all friends here.

The brown stuff is whiskey.  If I had bourbon on hand I would have done that, but I didn't.

The floating stuff is ice.  Yeah, duh.

What you don't see is the simple syrup.  Sugar, water and mixing.  How simple is that?  

You know what this recipe would be if you had rum?  And instead of baah sil you had mint?  It would be a mojito.  I did not want a mojito.  Watch Brian Griffin drink a mojito.  And I did not have mint.

 Put equal parts sugar and water into a glass and mash that up.  (There are better ways to do this involving boiling and cooling, but do you want to cook or do you want to drink?  Yeah, I thought so.)  Add a half dozen basil leaves and mash that up too.

Strain that into a glass and add whiskey.  Good stuff if you have it.  Add ice.  Swirl and enjoy.

Earlier this evening I was going to make dinner.  Mrs. Digs-Me was out for the evening.  Eating left-overs is not my thing, but it makes her happy when they get eaten.  I found some chicken, feta, couscous thing in the fridge.  That would be nice over some sauteed spinach...

It occurred to me to skip adding garlic to the oil.  It's just me after all.  Hey, screw that.  Add flavors!  You're worth it.  It's the little things!  Be good to yourself, my friends.

There's Something About Mary

Any freakin' thing you can think of - somebody has put it into a Bloody Mary.  Much like the martini, there is no ONE recipe for a Bloody Mary!  There is room for discussion on the topic naturally because opinions are like assholes.  Everyone has one. 


I have had Bloody Marys handed to me in a glass just STUFFED with food: celery, mushrooms, asparagus, onion, cheese, pickle, beef stick, olives.  It's a meal in a glass.

My thought: with all that food in there, it's time to take the meal out of the glass.  The Bloody Mary deconstructed has all the makings of a meal.  The challenge is to put all that in there and make it work as a salad.  Why a salad?  It's freakin' hot outside!

Now you will notice in the above photo a fabulous salad of fresh tomatoes, beef carpaccio, and grilled asparagus.  Next to the salad plate is an olive tapenade, horseradish sauce, a loaded cheese grater, and frozen vodka.  You know what goes into a great Bloody Mary recipe?  Same stuff my friend...

Let's break it down.  I've got sliced tomatoes subbing for the tomato juice.  There's your nice acidity.  Top that with some extra virgin olive oil and a nice balsamic glaze.  Beef carpaccio - that's Italian for sliced really damn thin.  Or when you're a lazy shit like me, slice it thicker and pound it thin (hey don't judge).  Tomato, beef and grilled asparagus (better than pickled) make up the base of the salad.

Top the salad with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, a little salt and pepper AND grated black pepper BellaVitano cheese.  It's made in Plymouth, Wisconsin and it's delicious!  Click on the link and check it out.


Now the other stuff that goes into a Bloody Mary: olives, celery, mushroom, onion - there's my tapenade!  That goes on top of tomatoes, beef, bread, chicken, fish - anything and it is yummy! I will put a recipe link for it and you tell me how awesome it is!  Look on the tab bar...


The other thing people will put in a Bloody (short for Bloody Mary) is more spice.  Tabasco: ehh... been that done there, jalapeno: what the hell ever..., horseradish: WAIT!  that goes with my beef!  YES!  YES!  YES!  Done!


And of course vodka.  Tito's (made in America, by Americans dammit!) frozen, served in chilled glasses with a squeeze of lemon.  I challenge my friend Matt (go see him at Social Urban Bar & Restaurant) to take this Bloody Mary over the top!)


Serve chilled with chill music and chill friends.