INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the tomato juice, begin with very ripe, juicy tomatoes. The
better the flavor of the tomatoes, the better the juice. For every quart of
juice, you will need approximately 2 quarts of fresh tomatoes. Chop the
tomatoes coarsely.  Place tomatoes in a stainless steel pot and bring to a
simmer over low heat. Cook until the tomatoes soften completely and their
juices are released.  Remove from heat, cool, and run the tomatoes and
juice through a food mill, fine sieve or juicer to remove the seeds and
skin. Pour the tomato puree into a bowl and let stand for approximately
half an hour. Tomatoes that contain a significant amount of water may
separate, causing the water to rise to the top. If this happens, skim off
the water. If necessary, keep skimming as long as the juice keeps
separating.  The more water you remove, the thicker the tomato juice. Taste
the juice. Remember, this is not canned. It might taste slightly bland
without the salt, sugar and citric acid used by commercial canners to bring
out the flavors.  It should have a heavy, rich tomato aroma, and if the
flavor doesn't quite meet your specifications, add salt, sugar or lemon
juice to suit your palate. Refrigerate the juice immediately. It will keep
for a few days, but the flavor diminishes with time.
In a 2-quart pitcher, combine the tomato juice with everything except the
celery and lime wedges.  Pour into 4 tall glasses full of ice and garnish
with a celery stalk and lime wedge on each. If you are in a flamboyant
mood, top each Bloody Mary with a cooked, chilled jumbo prawn.
(In the absence of fresh tomatoes, we use either V-8 juice or canned tomato
juice, and the results are still spectacular!)
From:  Tomatoes, A Country Garden Cookbook by Jesse Ziff Cool, Collins
Publishers, San Francisco, 1994. Typed by Loren Martin, Big Cabin,
Oklahoma.....where the buffalo roam!
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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