"Bloody Olivia"

 ~ Welcome to a Progressive Party ~
 I know, right now most of you are saying "what?", but let me explain. It is actually the fantastic brainchild of Casey over at TasteStopping. It boils down to 6 different bloggers, 6 different assigned dinner courses, 1 product, kitchen tool, or ingredient, equaling one fun, unique internet party like no other. You can find more info about all of this over at Kitchen Play since Casey has a much better way of explaining than I do, but think of it kind of like Iron Chef meets Chopped.

This month the ingredient is sponsored by Lindsay Olives who happen to produce a fantastic array of different olives for any occasion. My assignment: A cocktail. The mission: Create a signature cocktail using Lindsay Olives that is NOT a martini. Sounds easy enough? Well, yes and no. Let's just say my husband had a glorious time sampling different drinks. In all honesty, those that know me are aware of the fact that I'm not an olive kind of girl and my drink of choice is usually on the sweeter side. My husband on the other hand had absolutely no problems helping me out, and in the end I was surprised that I liked the finished cocktail as much as I did.

I was trying to figure out which direction to take this drink and then it hit me. What better way to create something that also represents my geographical living area than coming up with a Southwest inspired cocktail? And what better way to achieve this than with Lindsay's Spicy Jalapeno Queen Olives. After experimenting with a few different drinks, I decided to intertwine one of my favorite drinks (the Margarita) with one of my husbands favorite drinks (the Bloody Mary) and born was the "Bloody Olivia"!

The main ingredient of a Margarita is tequila and a Bloody Mary is made with tomato juice and vodka. Trying to figure out how to combine these two drinks into one was fairly easy, but how could I showcase these great supplied olives? After a few trials and errors it came to me that I could infuse the most flavor by not just using the olive brine from inside the jar, but also by taking one of the Spicy Jalapeno Queen Olives and adding it to the drink. To do just that, I decided to break out my blender, and it worked like a charm. The drink gets additional flavor from a few spices, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and last but not least, another traditional margarita ingredient, lime juice. After blending the tomato/olive base together, all that was left to do was stir in the tequila and enjoy.

I served the drink in a Chili-Lime Salt (which I found at a liquor store with the specialty salts) rimmed glass over ice and as a garnish I added a pickled jalapeno along with another stuffed Lindsay Spicy Jalapeno Queen Olive. This made for a tasty cocktail that had quite a kick to it. With all of the holidays and get-togethers coming up, I'm happy to have another great cocktail in my repertoire so I guess I better stock up on a few more Lindsay Olives!

"Bloody Olivia"
(Makes 1 drink)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

8 oz. vegetable juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 tablespoon Lindsay Spicy Jalapeno Olive brine (the liquid from inside the jar)
1 Lindsay Spicy Jalapeno Olive
1 1/2 oz. Tequila
Ice
Chili-Lime Salt to rim the glass (for garnish)
Pickled Jalapeno (for garnish)
1 Lindsay Spicy Jalapeno Olive (for garnish)

Preparation:

In a blender add vegetable juice, salt, pepper, celery salt, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lime juice, olive brine and 1 jalapeno olive. Blend until mixture is combined and smooth. Stir in tequila. Carefully pour over ice into a salt rimmed glass. Add the pickled jalapeno and olive for garnish. Serve immediately!

Last, but certainly not least, these progressive parties have a great way to get all of you, my wonderful readers, involved. You have the chance to win $100  cold, hard cash and all you have to do is either make my signature cocktail and blog about it, or pick any of the other party recipes to make and blog about it. You can also make all 6 courses for 6 entries to increase your chances of winning. To find out more info and all the the rules that come along with this contest, hop on over to Kitchen Play. This is a great opportunity for some easy money and who couldn't use that  right before the holidays?  Don't wait though, you have only until November 30th, 2010 to enter.