Spice Up Your Next Bloody Mary

The Food Network show Unwrapped, hosted by Marc Summers, regularly goes behind the scenes to show the making of some of America's favorite edible pasttimes. This week, the episode titled Red Hot spotlights spicy flavors—from Tabasco hot sauce to Habanero Hot Bloody Mary mix from Freshies. The episode airs Friday night (9/19) at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and again at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday for you night owls, and it's sure to get you in the mood for a round of Bloody Marys.

On that subject, we've been experimenting lately with pickled veggies to garnish our favorite tomato-based drink recipes. This recipe, courtesy of Imbibe assistant editor, Tracy Howard, is a great way to preserve summer's bounty. Grab any assortment of fresh veggies from your garden or farmer's market and infuse them in this garlicky brine for a week in the fridge. We recently pickled onions, carrots, green beans and large slices of fennel bulb, but you can use whatever is available to you.

Pickled Garlic-Ginger Veggies
4 cups water
1 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. each:
peeled and chopped ginger
whole black peppercorns
celery seeds
mustard seeds
dill seeds
1 sliced jalapeño pepper
1 large bunch fresh dill
1 fresh grape leaf (optional)
vegetables of choice

1. Thoroughly wash and dry a large glass jar and place a grape leaf at the bottom of the jar (this acts as a preserving agent, but it’s optional). Pack tightly with fresh dill sprigs and your choice of veggies and set aside.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and heat on low for 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

4. Once cooled, pour brine over packed veggies, cover with lid of jar and keep at room temperature for one hour before refrigerating. Your pickled garnishes will be ready in one week and will keep covered in the refrigerator for a month.