Ricks Picks

It is oh so lovely to go out on the town for a bloody mary, but making the Mary at home is a true labor of love.  We always try to stay informed on how to get the freshest ingredients for mixes and garnishes (and we all know that the garnish is the BEST part).

Rick's Picks, located at the Brooklyn Flea in Dumbo is there for all of your garnishing needs. Rick's was founded in Vermont and offers hand-packed, all natural, pickled veggies made in season with all local produce. 

They supply pickled beets, green tomatoes,  spicy green beans, asparagus, low sodium pickles and much more!  Not to mention the friendly and informative staff give out tons of free samples at their booth. Yes...I admit, I have been know to take more then my fair share.

The website also has some amazing recipes like Smokra Deviled Eggs, Windy City Wasabean Nicoise Salad, Pepi Pep Pep Antipasto AND of course a stellar recipe for a "Mean Beans Mean and Bloody" Bloody Mary...

Mean Beans Mean and Bloody

Over Ice Combine:

1oz Vodka

3oz tomato juice

2 dashes Worcestershire

1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish

2 dashes Tabasco or to taste

1 quarter lemon squeezed and dropped into drink

Generous splash Mean Beans brine

Stir and garnish with a few Mean Beans!!

So get busy and throw a bloody Mary party soon!!

Pepi Pep Pep Antipasto

 Windy City Wasabean Nicoise Salad

http://rickspicksnyc.com/pickles

and visit there pickle blog

http://blog.rickspicksnyc.com/

Bocca Lupo

The Brooklyn Bloody Mary Brigade strikes again and on this particular Sunday we had our eyes set on Bocca Lupo. This cobble hill, glass fronted, corner spot specializes in small plates, panini, tramezzini and bruschette.  The industrial feeling dining room and gorgeous granite bar is the perfect place to sip on a delicious Mary and THAT my dear friends is exactly what we did!

The bloody beverage had a nice overall flavor with a hint of anise and went down quite easy, although was a bit heavy on the tomato juice. To put it frankly... it needed a bit more kick in the pants! We like our Mary's spicy and this didn't cut it. The garnish was so so. I am always up for some olives, but a caper or two would have been nice.  

The food was stellar and honestly made our beverages more enjoyable.  I would recommend the Tuna Olive Salad (Packed with Italian Oil Tuna and meaty Olives) or Poached Eggs with Cremini Toast and tomato funduta. We found that both dishes accompany a Mary rather nicely.

Danielle Rating 2 stars-"Next time i am asking for more horseradish to kick things up"

Cameron-passed on a bloody...but would recommend the Absolute Pepper Vodka to make your own Marys at home. 

Be sure to check out Cameron's brunch blog

http://www.brunchwithcameron.blogspot.com/

Annie's Rating-3 stars

Bucca Lupo

391 Henry Street

(Between Baltic and Congress Street)

Brooklyn NY 11201

Buttermilk Channel

Ok kids....Fall is officially here and it seems like a top notch Bloody Mary is in order to bring in the season.

Dave and I had heard the rumors about Buttermilk Channel and decided to see what all the hype was about.  To our pleasant surprise we were not disappointed by this gem in Carroll gardens. First off you can't go wrong when you have four different bloody options...

The Classic-Spicy and strong! Garnished with dill pickle

Star of the Sea-Made with cucumber and dill infused vodka, garnished with fresh oyster

The Otis-Jameson whisky topped with six point Otis stout.

and....

The Court Street-Made with Rosemary infused vodka, which we both indulged in.

Not only did it taste amazing, with the perfect amount of spice, horseradish, and hint of Rosemary BUT THE GARNISH WAS OUTSTANDING! It's a personal antipasti on a stick consisting of Parmesan, olive and salami...i didn't even miss the celery. The perfect appetizer to a lovely meal.

Oh....and did i mention the Pecan Pie French Toast, basically heaven on a plate. Nothing but good things to say all around. 

Danielle's Rating-4stars

"mmmm...should i get another?"

Dave's Rating-4stars

Buttermilk Channel

524 Court St, Brooklyn 11231

(At Huntington St)

Alchemy

al⋅che⋅my

–noun,plural-mies

1. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value



Well we can certainly see how this traditional pub gets it name. The bartenders are true alchemists and are sure to turn humble ingredients into fantastic Bloody Marys.

This was the last Bloody Mary to finish off the holiday season and we had to make it a good one.
The floating baby pickle, single olive and spicy finish were all a nice jump start to '09. The big booths and old tavern setting make you feel right at home. The Edison light bulbs and antique fixtures transported us into another era.....

Annie would come back again for the jalapeno grits as long as "they would take some of the horseradish out of this Mary!!!"

Annie's rating-3 stars

Jonas gives extra points for a celery free beverage.

Jonas' rating-3.5 stars

Danielle just wants to enjoy one last alcoholic drink in peace, before she has to go to work tomorrow. BRING ANOTHER ROUND!!

Danielle rating-3 stars

Alchemy
56 5th Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11217
ph. 718.636.4385

Brunch: 11-4:30, Sat-Sun

Sunday Bloody...Thusday?

To start off a New Year right there's no doubt a New Year's Eve party is in order.

So we dressed up.

We partied.

We smooched.

Shawn prayed.

The countdown came and we don't remember anything after that. We recieved an early morning (err..afternoon) txt from two intercontinental Bloody Buddies, Sarah and Graham, with a recipe for success in 2009.

Sarah said "Graham makes a good Bloody...like a antipasto salad in a cup!"
We agree.
Question: Is that salami?
Answer: Hell yes.

We struggled through the frigid Brooklyn morning to Perch, a little cafe on 5th ave in Park Slope ( between 5th st. and 6th st). Known for their.....we don't really know what they are known for. But, we were hungry and they upgraded their menu so we thought we would give it a shot.

An olive, tomato wedge, jalepeno slice and a celery stick were included. Jonas is a non-celery kind of guy, Annie is a celery kind of girl.

The theme for this breakfast: the universe works in mysterious ways. 4 stars!

Dad's Chrismas Caesars

Dorthy was right! "There's no place like Detroit". (Or something like that.)


Especially when it's Christmas and your Dad is an expert Bloody Caesar Mixer. He borrowed this recipe from our Canadian brethren to the north (or south depending on where you are in Detroit). A little Clamato in place of tomato juice and some Old Bay on the rim makes for a lovely Christmas cocktail.

We added one o.j. to wet our shell fish allergic comrade Scott's pallatte.


Dad was a man of many talents on Christmas morning, expertly making the Bloodys as well as his Polish breakfast. The combo of Bloody Caesars and kielbasa... perfect.

Everybody's rating - 4 stars

Enid's

This story actually begins on Saturday night. A nice mix of booze and friends. But no bloody marys. So off to bed we all go (not together) eager to wake up to...



Ahhh yes...another Sunday. The lone survivors of Jonas' birthday party/Annie and Jonas' holiday party reconvened for a bit of a hangover special at Enid's in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. You can find one of the best bloody marys in the city located at the corner of Manhattan Ave. and Driggs.

Look at all those veggies, you know Danielle is fully satisfied.

Danielle's rating - 3.75 stars

Jonas' rating- 3.5 stars
One of the better ones i have had....yet, not fully convinced.

This Sunday we had a guest with us, known only as The Tingler. A great companion for brunch, BUT he has never been introduced to the joys of breakfast drinking (crazy, i know). Due to the afore mentioned holiday party, we all needed a little hair of the dog. And in no time The Tingler was enjoying his first ever breakfast bloody mary.

Tingler's rating- "What's in a bloody mary? Who decided to mix that together? Genius!"

Annie's rating-3.75 stars

Enid's bloody mary salad is reminiscent of Linda's signature drink. Linda's offers, in my opinion, the apex of the most sought after morning cocktail.