Liver Tonic, A High-Octane Bloody Mary

“Tonic, noun, 1. a medicinal substance taken to give a feeling of vigor… Adjective, 1. giving a feeling of vigor or well-being; invigorating.”

The Bloody Mary has always been known as a cure for a variety of ailments. The tomato juice alone is probably the key element, as it is rich in vitamins and minerals. Most notably, these include vitamin C, the antioxidant lycopene, and the electrolytes potassium and sodium. However, with the Bloody Mary, there is always the risk of letting the cure become the cause.

To avoid any risk and maximize benefits, we skip the vodka and add raw grated liver. And there you have it, near and dear to my heart: the Liver Tonic. Read more about this recipe.

Ingredients

1 oz frozen liver
3/4 c tomato juice
juice of half lime
1 T pickle juice
salt

Instructions

Grate liver, or slice, then dice into equivalently-sized pieces.
Mix liver with remaining ingredients, including a pinch of salt. Enjoy!

The Classic Bloody Mary has a long list of potential additions. As you would prefer your Bloody Mary, feel free to add any of these to your Liver Tonic: Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, piri-piri or other hot sauce, beef consomme, horseradish, salt, celery salt, garlic salt, oregano, basil, lemon juice, and additional garnishes like bacon. Dr. Francis Pottenger also included fresh whey in his Cocktail.

For years I added piri-piri, and would happily do it again if I got around to making more. These days though, I’ve really taken to the addition of some brine from my summer batch of garlic dill pickles (though Bubbies dill pickle juice would work fine). I do add a tablespoon of fresh whey when I’ve got some.

Most often I buy the Knudsen Organic Tomato juice at Whole Foods, which also includes lemon juice and salt. On the rare occasion I use fresh tomatoes to make juice, I do add extra salt and citrus juice to compensate.

Note that the frozen liver is easiest to grate when it’s part of a larger block (typically a 1 lb package), especially if you’ve set it out 10 or so minutes before you intend to make your tonic. Admittedly, my husband keeps joking that he we should invest in a snow-cone-style frozen grater to speed things up.

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