The frosted tomato cocktail was my pick from the Adventurous Appetizers section of The A-Z of Cooking.
But first, each section of The A-Z of Cooking comes with a sentence or two to introduce it vis a vis:
A is for… ADVENTUROUS APPETIZERS: start a dinner party or special family supper with a new and exciting idea.
Booooooring.
How much more fun if they’d done them all in verse:
There was a young girl called Eliza
Who wanted to make appetizers
She tried the tomat-er
As an exciting new starter
And the result did really surprise her.
Yeah, I know that was hardly “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” but the A-Z of Cooking is hardly The Larousse Gastronomique either.
You know what they say, water finds its level.
I nearly chose a recipe called Sweetcorn Scallops but the only thing scallopy about them was that they were served in scalloped shaped dishes or shells, neither of which I own.
I feel they were already drawing a slightly long bow in naming it. If I’d made it in a normal dish you guys would have left wondering if I’d lost my mind…
I can hear it now “Errmmmm, that’s bacon, honey, not scallops”
Anyhow, I really liked the picture of the Frosted Tomato Cocktail from The A-Z of Cooking which is why I chose this one to make. I love that glass. And just so you don’t think it’s me, they love a long skinny photo in The A-Z of Cooking.
Here is the original recipe:
This was really nice. So refreshing. It would be a gorgeous starter for a hot day in mid summer when tomatoes are at their very best. Or even as a palate cleanser between courses.
However, I felt it was missing something. Because you know what? As far as I’m concerned if you’re going to call something a cocktail, it better damn well have some booze in it. Also, you really needed to ramp up the flavourings in the original. .
My fennelly take on the Frosted Tomato Cocktail was inspired by this Serious Eats recipe. You could put the fennel salt around the rim of the glass as they suggest or just include it in the mix like I did. Celery salt would also be great here, in which case, I would garnish with a celery stalk instead of the mint.
I wanted mine to be vegan so I also omitted the Worcestershire and replaced it with tabasco. It may also be the most delicious thing I have ever made that is zero fat.
We’ll be sticking with the letter A for the next sortie into The A-Z of Cooking where we will be looking at the world of after school snacks. And I might try a haiku.
Have a great week!
Frosted Tomato Cocktail
A lovely refreshing start to a meal with a slight kick of heat!
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 kilo tomatoes, skinned and chopped
- 125 mls tequla
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 tsp sugar
- juice of 1 lime
- dash of Tabasco Sauce
- 1 tbsp sea salt, I used Maldon
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- Mint Leaves to garnish
- Pepper
Instructions
- Toast the fennel seeds in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Place the salt and toasted fennel seeds in a mortar and grind until they are well combined and the seeds have broken down. Pass through a very fine sieve and set aside.
- Place the tomatoes, tequila, lime juice, and sugar into a blender and puree until smooth. Add the fennel salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to taste.
- Pour mixture into large ice cube trays and freeze. Just before serving remove from freezer, take the frozen cubes out of ice tray and place them back in the blender.
- Puree until smooth but still frozen.
- Spoon into chilled glasses, garnish with mint and serve immediately.
