Hi everyone!
This is my first cooking/recipe post. Every cooking post be a little different depending on what I'm making. If its something more complicated then I may do a video along with the writing, I will also put a short version of the recipe and directions on the bottom of each post while explaining in detail within the post. I hope every one enjoys it.
This weekend I will be making homemade ketchup which isn't hard to make. it just takes a long time. I also plan to make pumpkin pie with the pumpkin I froze from the garden for Thanksgiving so we can look forward to seeing how that turns out. I will probably put one or two other recipes on here that I do for the holidays or the cold season. I'm going to try to post a cooking blog post once a week. Hopefully that will motivate me to try different recipes more often!
Homemade Ketchup
So I started this recipe Friday night and it took most of Saturday to get done. It was worth it though. It turned out really good! I did start out with dethawed tomatoes out of the freezer which made them messier but easier to squish. If you use fresh tomatoes then I suggest cutting them into 1-1 1/2" pieces after coring.
First I started with coring and the tomatoes. I left the skins on. I just took a knife and made a square around the stem all the way down to the bottom of the tomato and then pulled the stem and the whole core came out really easy. I then put them on a food scale until I had 5lbs of tomatoes. After that, they went into a large pot on the stove. I kept it at medium heat and used a potato masher to squish the juices out of the tomatoes. You don't have to mash them, just push on them gently to release juices.
I let the tomatoes simmer for about 30 minutes and then poured them into a blender. I blended until they were mostly smooth and poured pureed tomatoes into my slow cooker. Set it to low and then added all my other ingredients. Stirred it and then left it for 8-12 hours overnight (it was loser to 12 hours for me).
In the morning, I stirred it again and tasted it. I added one more tablespoon of honey for taste. I put it back into my blender and pureed it all together again until it was as smooth as possible. It was returned back to the slow cooker to cook on high, with the lid propped, for (mine took) 4-5 hours to cook down.
After it was as thick as I liked, I put it back into my blender one last time to make sure it was all smooth and then I water bath canned it along with my extra tomatoes.
I did leave a little out to put in the refrigerator although I wasn't very much
because there was still store bought ketchup that needed to be used in there.
I hope you enjoyed my first cooking post and there will be more to come :)
Homemade Ketchup
Ingredients
5 lbs tomatoes
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup apple cider vinager
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 large onion, diced
1/2 clove garlic
Directions
Cut tomatoes into 1-1 1/2" pieces. (optional)
Place into a large stock pot and mash with potato masher or wooden spoon. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
Using a blender (or and blender), puree until smooth.
Pour into slow cooker and add all other ingredients. put slow cooker on low over night for 8-12 hours. Pour back into blender (or use hand blender) and blend until mostly smooth again.
Use a couple of butter knives and prop slow cooker lid open. Cook mixture on high until it is the desired thickness (about 3 hours).
Taste and add ingredients as desired.
Blend one last time and then store.