Drink: Roasted Tomato Shrimp Cocktail

Recipe by Rick Bayless Add Mexican flair to this classic appetizer dish, Coctel de Camarón con Jitomates Asados, with avocado, cilantro, and Mexican hot sauce.

Ingredients

1 lb. tomatoes (or 1 1/2 cups canned fire-roasted, diced tomatoes)
1 small red onion
3 clove garlic
1 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
2 tbsp. balsamic or sweet sherry vinegar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 c. Tamazula hot sauce, or another favorite Mexican offering
salt

Instructions

Roast tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet about 4 inches below a preheated broiler until soft, blackened, and blistered, 5 or 6 minutes per side. Remove and let cool. Meanwhile, turn oven to 425 degrees F. On another baking sheet, drizzle onion and garlic with oil and toss to combine. Roast, stirring a few times, until richly browned, about 15 minutes total. When tomatoes are cool, pull off blackened skins.
Make sauce: Scoop tomatoes into a food processor and pulse several times to chop into small pieces. Scrape into a large bowl. Without washing food processor, scoop in onion and garlic, then pulse until coarsely chopped. Scrape in with tomato and stir in vinegar, brown sugar, and hot sauce. Taste and season highly with salt, usually about 1 1/2 teaspoons.
Finish cocktail: If you like shrimp cocktail really cold, refrigerate sauce until chilled. Add shrimp, avocado, and cilantro to sauce and stir to combine. Coctel de Camarón looks beautiful served in martini glasses or little glass bowls (especially if they are nestled into larger bowls filled with crushed ice).