Bloody Bar Snacks

A few weeks ago, I stopped into Rancho Azteca and ordered a frozen margarita with my friend Rodney. Not just any frozen margarita, either. This one arrived swirled with mango and strawberry, looking more like a summer sunset than a cocktail. Creative, rich and thick, refreshing and absolutely yummy.

The best restaurants don’t just serve food and drinks. They spark ideas. By the time I got home, I was already wondering what kind of snacks would pair with a colorful, fruit-forward margarita. Something salty. Something crunchy. Something with a little kick.

That led me to a weekend of kitchen tinkering and two new favorites: Party Fritos and Bloody Mary Pickles.

I’m someone who tries to eat and serve real food most of the time instead of processed frankinsnacks, and it didn’t escape my son’s attention that I was taking a processed, high calorie food and making it...worse? No. Better - at least in the name of flavor.

The Party Fritos are exactly what they sound like. Fritos tossed with a buttery blend of seasonings and baked until every corn chip is coated with flavor.

They’re addictive in the way that bar snacks are supposed to be. Put out a bowl and watch them disappear.

Back to another wonderful watering hole where some of my favorite peeps are: The Mercury Cafe & Teahouse - I tend to take some of my weirdest creations to Robin or Dwayne or Caroline, and it had been a while since I brought them any weirdness.

Enter Bloody Mary Pickles.

Party Fritos

INGREDIENTS

1 large bag Fritos Scoops or Original Fritos

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated fine

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

METHOD

Heat oven to 300. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, and Italian seasoning.

Add Fritos and gently toss until evenly coated.

Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake for 7 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Cool completely before serving or putting in any storage container.

Bloody Mary Pickles

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of mini cukes - 7 or 8 of them

1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (Remove the seeds of you’re scared)

1 head garlic

Bloody Mary Mix (I chose Everything Bagel flavor)

Salt & pepper to taste

METHOD

Slice all the cloves in a head of garlic and set aside.

Wash and slice your cucumbers into thin strips.

Stack the cucumber slices into a jar, alternating with some of the jalapeno slices and garlic slices.

One pack of cukes made one jar of pickles for me but obviously, that will change based on the size jar(s) you use.

Pour enough bloody mary mix in the jar to cover everything, and refrigerate for at leat 8 hours.

Once the pickles are gone, it’s time to do something really creative with what’s left in the jar. My guess is that vodka will be involved.

Neither recipe is complicated. Neither is particularly fancy. But they create the kind of snacks that makes people linger a little longer around the table.

And isn’t that the point? Yes, the food and cocktails bring me to the Merc, but it’s the people there that make me linger.