From Tomato to Ketchup ~ A Recipe

Ketchup, catsup... however you spell it, my kids adore it.  The fact that I'm even messing with this sacred food (yes food, not condiment) of theirs is quite risky.  I've tried three recipes.  One was "too spicy," one was "too lacto-fermenty," they weren't puréed enough...  I'm competing with Trader Joe's organic ketchup here.  You'd think a homemade version would be a definite upgrade, but not according to my kids.  Since I haven't been able to exactly replicate their ketchup, I resigned to calling this homemade version (this recipe is as close as I could get to Trader's) "red sauce" or "red dip."  Whichever name will most delight the eater is the name I use.

We received a lot of red tomatoes in our CSA box this week, and we go through ketchup faster than fresh tomatoes, thus this the birth of this recipe.  I broke three standard rules for ketchup-making: I didn't use Roma tomatoes, nor did I peel or seed them.  Why?  Because I was using the tomatoes I had on hand and to save time.  It worked just fine.  So there, standard ketchup.  Can it, ferment it, eat it fresh, it's up to you.  I'll show you how to preserve this "red sauce" two different ways at the bottom of the recipe.

Start off with nine ripe tomatoes of your choice (freedom ketchup!).  Quarter and run them through a blender.  A high-speed one will give you the smoothest results (I use a Vita-Mix).  It took two batches of blending for me.

Then, dump the purée in a large saucepan or even a stock pot.

Blend the onion and pepper and add those to the pot (or, if there's room, blend the onions and peppers with the tomatoes to save time).

Bring it to a rapid boil until it reduces by half.  Turn heat to medium and add all remaining ingredients.  Cover and check periodically to see if it's reached your desired consistency.  This can take one to four hours, depending on how thick you like your ketchup.   On to the official recipe:

Ketchup Made with Fresh Tomatoes

Makes 3 cups

• 9 medium to large ripe ORGANIC tomatoes of your choice, quartered  Please note:  if you're using chemically-treated tomatoes, you will need to blanch, peel, and seed your tomatoes first.
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 sweet pepper (except I used 2 Anaheim chilies because, well, they came in the CSA box)
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 cup sweetener of your choice (honey, grade B maple syrup, or rapadura)

1. Blend tomatoes, peppers, and onion (preferably through a high-speed blender).  This might need to happen in two or more batches.  Pour in a large saucepan or stock pot and bring to a rapid boil.  Allow purée to reduce to about half, stirring often.
2. Turn heat to medium and add remaining ingredients.  Cover and check periodically to see if it's reached your desired consistency.  This can take 1-4 hours depending on how thick you'd like your ketchup to be.  Store in fridge or double the recipe if you'd like to preserve some.

To Lacto-Ferment:

Decrease vinegar to 2 tablespoons and add 1/4 cup whey (not the powdered kind) to the end, cooled product.  Stir and leave at least 1 inch of space between the ketchup and the top of the jar.  Cover and sit on the countertop for three days, then store in the fridge (or a root cellar if you're blessed enough to have one).

Do you have a favorite ketchup recipe?  Are there certain seasonings you simply can't do without in yours?  I'd love to hear about it if you do.  Happy ketchup-making!

I'm sharing this at Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Traditional Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, & Simple Lives Thursday.

Applesauce Day with my Eldest ~ And a Slow Cooker Recipe

We might not have come home with bushels of apples from apple-picking day, but the week's CSA box included a dozen gorgeous Granny Smith's and we were hankering for some applesauce.  My eldest wanted to help make it, which was a delight to the ears.  I was hoping for some quality time with her, and the other kids were either swimming (yes, it's still hot enough for that here) or playing with building blocks.  She decided to leave the peeling to me (the little darling), so I listened to her read out loud while I peeled away.

The grapes honestly have nothing to do with this post, but they just keep showing up in the pictures.  Silly grapes.

After peeling all twelve apples, we sliced away and dropped them in the crock pot,

added the juice of one lemon (for no real reason outside of wanting the tartness.  The apples will be brown from all the spices so we really didn't need to protect the coloring),

and stirred in the spices that are the very scent of autumn, in my book.

We turned the slow cooker on to low, put a lid on it, and four hours later...

a quick push or two with the potato masher, and we had six cups of delightfully spiced applesauce, just like that!

Our taste testers took to it right away and didn't want to waste any time finding a table to eat it on.  It was a hit!

It's so nice when there's time enough to realize that doing life with the little ones is what's important.  More important than getting the job done fast.  Even more important than getting the job done without a  mess.  Applesauce day with my nine-year-old ended up being quite the special day, and a very good reminder to slow down and remember that sharing life with the kids is the sweetest life there is.  It's poetry, I tell you.

Simple, Spiced, Slow Cooker Applesauce

Yields 8 cups

• 16 apples, peeled and cored
• Juice from 1 lemon (optional)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup grade B maple syrup or local honey (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir.  All spices are optional.  Pick and choose; use all, some, or none.  Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until the apples are puffy-looking with small splits.
2. Use potato masher to get the applesauce to the consistency you'd like it (it took us about 5 seconds, the apples fall right apart).  Store in glass mason jars and keep in the fridge, or maybe even put some away in the freezer if you don't think you'll mow through it in two days like we did.  It will keep for about 10 days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

~ Browse more Riddlelove recipes here. ~

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I'm sharing this at Barn Hop, Traditional Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, & Pennywise Platter.

Apple Picking with a Raspberry & Cider Harvest

Everyone was looking forward to apple picking day.  We enjoyed a trip to the apple orchard with Nana and Papa last year so we held to this tradition over the weekend.  The weather was perfect!  Crisp, sunny, and breezy.  As we walked up to the stand to buy our box to fill, the boy told us that a late-spring hail storm destroyed all but a bit of the entire crop.  They harvested what they could salvage and some were for sale in bags and to make cider out of, but the only you-pick produce available was raspberries.  We all love raspberries, but little hearts were set on apples.  After the grown-ups did a bit of recovery prep-talking to the littles, (We still get to pick some treats!  Look how gorgeous it is today!  We will still be able to press cider.  Let's see how quickly we can fill our basket up...) off to the raspberry rows we went.

There were many honey bees enjoying the sweet, ripe berries and my youngest didn't like sharing with them so much, but she pushed on (for the first half)...

It really was a beautiful day, and the surroundings were simply detoxifying.

After we filled our raspberry basket and devoured a lovely picnic lunch, we made our way to the cider mill.  First, the apples were washed.

Then, my oldest took the job of crushing the apples very seriously, while the other three filled the hopper as fast as their little hands could.  It was quite the assembly line.

It was time to press the cider.  The oldest two used their muscles while the little girls looked forward to getting big enough to reach the handles and help.

Out came the cider!

Through the strainer the cider went, into our jug to take home and relish.

Sometimes, we get thrown a curve ball.  Everyone with children knows that last-minute changes can be hard for them to recover from.  It might have taken a while for disappointed little faces to point away from the ground and towards the raspberry canes filled with ripe, red berries, but it happened.  The picnic still went as planned though.  The much-anticipated treats were brought out and enjoyed.  There was an extra surprise of a petting zoo that really brightened the day of my five-year-old lover of all animals, and we still came home with a gallon of fresh, raw cider and a 10-pound bag of jonagold apples, perfect for snacking and cooking with.  Not to forget the large basket of raspberries that we'll do something yummy with tonight (perhaps a recipe post will follow).  

Regardless of the missed apple-picking experience (and feeling so very sad for the farmers), the trip signified the arrival of autumn, and made us all the more excited to plant some apple trees of our own this November.  Happy autumn!

I'm sharing this at Barn Hop.