How to make a refreshing dill themed bloody mary with infused vodka, pickle juice ice cubes, and bloody mary deviled eggs.
Whoever came up with the saying, “Kill two birds with one stone,” is my kind of people. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love all animals and would never wish any harm on a living, breathing creature, but man do I love a twofer (two-fur???). You know, like biking to work – you get your exercise in whilst commuting. Right about now, you’re probably thinking, “Where in the hell is he going with this?!” Well, you’re about to find out.
If there’s one ingredient I love more than a tomato, it’s gotta be dill. Let’s start with pickles. I love dill pickles in all forms – cornichons, slices, spears. Then there’s dill potato chips, kettle cooked of course. And don’t you dare forget about some dill Havarti cheese either.
In all seriousness, I dig dill because it’s vibrant, aromatic, and distinct. I can always count on it to up the freshness factor and pack a delicious punch into any dip, dish, or drink. It just brings such a pleasant, herbaceous flavor that’s oh so welcomed in my book. It says, “hey beautiful, I’m ready to rock your taste buds!”
More importantly, it’s a killer complement to any bloody mary. I mean think about – in and out of the mix. There’s nothing better than a little pickle brine to kick your mix up a notch or a pickle or sprig of dill to add to your garnish game.
So I decided to take my love for dill to a whole new level. And what better time than in the heat of the summer, to create a lighter mix that’s big on garnish. It’s about to get dill, ya’ll. Real dill, so dill.
Appetizers doubling as garnishes, garnishes working as bloody mary mix additions. I’ll be interchanging a lot of ingredients to create something new. We’re talking pickles galore, dill and garlic-infused vodka, pickle juice ice cubes, and wait for it, bloody mary deviled eggs with pickle juice and a friggin’ dill pickle rimming salt. Mind blown, am I right?
I’m bringing out all the stops. Get ready to conquer your next socially-distanced brunch excursion. Mic drop. You’re welcome. Let’s get after it.
Ice Cubes
Great place to start because you know what? You need time to freeze the damn things. Like I said, if you’re going dill, go all in. So, I decided to create some dill pickle cubes to complement the bloody mary.
You gotta keep that bloody cold and why not have a little more flavor melt into your cocktail as you’re sipping. I used the brine from my refrigerated pickle recipe, but feel free to use the juice from any of your favorite pickle brands.
The Vodka
Next up, put some pep in that step. Don’t underestimate the power of the spirit. Feel free to use your favorite vodka of choice, but if you want to amp it up a bit and continue down this dilly path, try infusing it. Like I said, either go dill or just go home.
Ingredients
4 garlic cloves
1 bunch of fresh dill
Bottle of your favorite vodka
In a pint jar, add four cloves of smashed garlic. To smash, I typically take a large kitchen knife with a wider blade, place it on top of the garlic, then press the palm of my hand to the knife with some pressure. Add a handful of fresh dill. Then dump in your favorite non-flavored vodka, and fill the jar to the top. At a minimum, let it sit overnight. The longer you leave it be, the more flavor goodness you get!
The Dill-y
Makes 8oz.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Produce
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 stalk of celery
1/4 Jalapeño
1 tbsp fresh dill
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
Fresh juice from 1/2 of lime
3 cornichon pickles
Liquids
3/4 cup of tomato juice
3 tbsp pickle juice or brine
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tbsp hot sauce
1/2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
Spices
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp horseradish
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp celery salt
Making The Mix
Like I mentioned, the inspiration for this bloody mary, which I dubbed The Dill-y, is derived from a few things. One, my obvious, border-line obsession with dill. Noted. Two, I was looking for a lighter mix during the warmer months of summer.
I typically have a hard time resisting the urge to just have one (which typically turns into an early bedtime if you know what I mean). As bloodys are often on the heavy side, I wanted something low in salt content, light in body, and super fresh tasting. Thus, the Dill-y was born.
And it’s all of those things. Light and mild with a side of chunkiness. It’s herbaceous, but acidic. It’s packed with ingredients like fresh dill (obviously), garlic, cornichons, pickle brine, citrus, and celery.
Directions
Step 1: Chop your veggies! To allow for better blending, I like to cut my produce into smaller pieces. For garlic cloves, cut into quarters. For jalapeno, cut in halves then once more as you’re only going to use a 1/4. Be sure to de-seed the jalapeno unless you want some extra spice!
Take one stalk of celery and cut into four even pieces. You’ll only be using one of those pieces. For the dill, I find the easiest hack is using kitchen shears to trim off the desired amount. Toss it all, including cornichons, into a blender or food processor.
Step 2: Add your liquids plus squeeze that lemon and lime juice directly into a food processor. Pour in tomato juice, tomato paste, hot sauce, pickle brine, and vinegar.
Step 3: Dump in those spices. Then blend it all together for about 30 second to 1 minute or until desired consistency.
Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs
Makes 12
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
6 eggs
1/8 cup of mayo
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tbsp horseradish
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp pickle juice
Garnish
Celery leaves
Ends of 6 cornichon pickles
Making The Eggs
Now it’s time for the showstopper. You’re about to impress the heck out of your brunch buddies. We’re not just making eggs here people, we’re making Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs. This is serious. Before we get started, you might need a swig of your cocktail.
I originally found this recipe on Delish. com, but decided to put my own spin on it. As expected, there’s all the makings of a bloody mary, like hot sauce, horseradish, Worcestershire, and celery seed. Plus throw in some mayo, lemon juice, tomato paste, and pickle juice. This recipe makes a dozen, but don’t forget you’ll need at least one for a garnish.
Directions
Step 1: Hard boil your eggs. Place 6 eggs in a pan and add just enough water to cover. I like to add a little bit of vinegar (white or apple cider) as I find it makes the pain-in-the-ass part of peeling the eggs just a little bit easier. Bring water to a boil and leave eggs set for about 8 minutes.
Step 2: Transfer eggs to a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes. Let them hang out for a few minutes until they’re cool to touch. Now peel the eggs and rinse them off.
Step 3: Cut each of the six eggs in half. Remove the cooked yolk and add to a mixing bowl. Set your white egg canoes aside.
Step 4: Grab that same mixing bowl. Dump mayo, Worcestershire, hot sauce, tomato paste, horseradish, celery seed, and pickle juice in with the egg yolks. Squeeze in juice from your lemon.
Step 5: Mix everything together. I used a whisk initially to mash up the yolks and then a spoon to mix everything together.
Step 6: Prep your garnishes. Pluck 12 leaves from your celery stalks. They don’t have to be perfect. Cut the ends off of your cornichon pickles.
Step 7: Let’s add the filling to those eggs. I’m not much of a baker, so I sure don’t have proper baking or piping utensils. Rather, I used a sandwich bag and cut the tip off of one of the corners. That did the trick just fine for this recipe. Fill in the divet of the egg with the mixture until it overflows a bit.
Step 8: Add celery leaves and pickle ends.
Putting It All Together
Well that was a lot of work to prep a cocktail! But I promise, it’ll all be worth the wait. It’s time to put this thing together and get day-drunk! Look out Sunday Funday, here you come.
So just to confirm, you have your cubes, your booze, your mix, and your eggs. We still need some garnishes, so grab those cornichons, some sprigs of dill, a couple of pickles, and those masterpiece eggs you just made. Damn, Gina, you be killin’ it. Here we go Da Vinci…
Step 1: Rim job (don’t be gross). Grab your favorite glass and dunk the edge of the glass in some pickle juice or brine. Now line the glass with a dill rimming salt. You can use whatever brand your little heart desires.
Step 2: Gotta stay hydrated. Pour 1.5 ounces of vodka into your glass. Take the bloody mary mix and fill the glass ¾ of the way to the top.
Step 3: Keep it cold. Place 3 or so cubes in the glass. Since the vodka and mix are likely at room temp, I like to add ice last just to keep it from melting while you pour.
Step 4: Garnish game. Stick that sprig of dill to the edge of the glass. To a toothpick or skewer, add two pickles and two cornichons and rest it on top of the glass. Now, the grand finale. Plop one of those deviled eggs right on top.
Voilà! You did it! A gold star for you. Your work here is done. Now stop reading and get to drinking. Happy brunching!
