Ketchup or Catsup?

So, I’ve hatched this crazy plan to make my own ketchup. What on earth would make me want to do something like that?

Motivator #1: Meet me in St. Louis starring Judy Garland. Tell me you know the scene in the kitchen where the family is trying to convince Katie to move dinner time, so that Rose can receive a private phone call from Warren in New York (thinking he’s going to propose)- all the while trying to season a batch of ketchup. This specific scene has always fascinated me and is really what got me interested in general canning several years ago. Since then, I have canned jams, jellies, apple butter, pear butter, pickles, and salsas.

Motivator #2: Homemade ketchup is much lower in sugar than the stuff bought off the grocery store shelves (and it is void of all those gross additives and saturated fat). This fits in well with the new lifestyle Hubs and I have adopted this year. Even better, you can jazz up your homemade ketchup with onion, chili powder, and fresh parsley—and you not only get a flavor that beats anything on the supermarket shelf, but you'll benefit from a concentrated dose of lycopene, courtesy of the tomatoes. (Our bodies actually absorb this antioxidant better when the tomatoes are cooked, as they are in ketchup.) Lycopene can decrease your risk of several types of cancers as well as heart disease. The antioxidant also helps eliminate skin-damaging free radicals caused by ultraviolet rays. Hooray for homemade ketchup!

The ketchup recipe I have my eye on comes from Saveur. It’s a great base recipe, allowing you to customize the recipe to suit your tastes. You can make it thicker or thinner by adjusting the cooking time up or down. What's more- this ketchup is fragrant due to the ground clove and ginger, and it gets the tiniest bit of sweetness from a few spoonfuls of brown sugar. Half a fresh jalapeno adds just a little heat. I am thinking this will be a good beginner recipe, allowing me to get my foot in the door before the summer tomato crop arrives (then I want to try this with my own tomaters and not a canned puree. Also, I want to can this, not just stick it in the fridge where it will only last about a month.

Here goes nothing…

Homemade Ketchup

Recipe from Saveur

1 28-oz. can tomato puree

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered

1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled

1/2 fresh jalapeño, stemmed and seeded

2 tbsp. dark brown sugar

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 cup water

Pinch cayenne

Pinch celery salt

Pinch dry mustard

Pinch ground allspice

Pinch ground cloves

Pinch ground ginger

Pinch ground cinnamon

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Yields about 4 cups of ketchup (that’s about 3 1/2 pint jars)

Grab all of your fresh ingredients. Toss them into your blender with the tomato puree. Blend. Transfer to a pot. Add the spices and simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Cool and bottle.