So with another summer coming to an end, the summer garden is also coming to an end. We still have tomatoes to pick and the chard is going strong. I just processed 40 pounds of asian pears into spiced pear butter and am really looking forward to harvesting apples from our orchard in a month or so. However, my favorite recipe for the season was ketchup. It is NOTHING like store bought ketchup and I love it so much I would consider putting it on anything! My dad is that way with Tabasco. He puts it on everything... I processed 34 pounds of heirloom tomatoes (picture to the left) from our garden and made this recipe as well as BBQ sauce. I got 10 1/2 pints from a double batch and after giving all but 4 jars away I decided this sauce is precious as gold to me and I cannot afford to be giving any more away. When my daughter's teacher gave me 12 more pounds of tomatoes, I knew I had to make some more of this delicacy.
The great news is that it is easy to make, although a bit time consuming, and it is soooo worth the effort. I was able to cut down on the time consumption aspect of reducing it down by using the oven rather than the stove and with future sauces like this, I will forever use that method. Rather than having to be near the stove for several hours, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning, all you have to do is stick it in the oven for a few hours and let the oven do the work. With that said, here is the recipe and some photos (although I did not take any at the start because I decided to do this after I had already washed and de-skinned the tomatoes.)
Recipe adapted from The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader:
Tools you will need:
*kitchen scale (optional but in my kitchen it is now an essential) I have the Soehlne Page Profi and I LITERALLY use it daily for cooking and/mail. Here is a link to purchase from Amazon if you have any interest. You will NOT regret it!! Soehlne Page Profi Digital Scale
*cutting board and knives
*large pot
*bowl for ice water bath
*wire mesh strainer or similar to strain tomato seeds from juice if you want to make tomato/basil soup with the fresh tomato juice. Here is the recipe I use and it is AMAZING! Tomato Basil Soup
*cheesecloth
*food processor (blender) or stick blender- I use both for this but you will need just one
*water bath canning supplies: large pots with wire baskets, jar tongs, jars and lids
Ingredients (for a single batch):
*8 pounds tomatoes
*1 medium onion (I run through the food processor rather than chopping)
*1 cup sugar or 1/2 cup sugar + 7/16 cup honey
*1 cup distilled white vinegar
*4 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
*2 T dry mustard
*1 1/2 inches cinnamon stick
*1 1/2 tsp whole cloves
*1 tsp celery seed
* 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1) Wash and destem tomatoes. Dip in boiling water for about 60 seconds, until the skins split. Transfer to ice water bath, then slip off the skins. Do this with all the tomatoes before halving them and squeeze out seeds and as much juice as you can. I feed the skins to my chickens and collect the seeds and juice in a clean bowl so I can strain later to make tomato/basil soup.
Strain the
seeds from the tomato juice using a wire mesh strainer or any other
strainer. The tomato juice is delicious to drink or make into homemade
tomato/basil soup (as I keep mentioning because it is sooo good). My
five year old LOVES it! I mean really with ingredients like fresh
tomato juice, butter and whipping cream, who wouldn't? ;o) Oh...my
husband...
The picture above is my chicken scraps container. It was my grandma's flour container. She was a make everything from scratch kind of gal so I love having one of her kitchen utensils that I use daily.
2) Begin heating deseeded and dejuiced tomato halves in a heavy pot and puree the onion(s) in a food processor before putting in the pot with tomatoes.
3) Using a stick blender or your food processor, blend the tomato and onion mixture until it is a fairly smooth consistency. This is all to preference as to how thick or smooth you want your ketchup to be. I make mine pretty smooth, although it is not as smooth as store bought. It is still a bit lumpy.
Below is the consistency of mine.
4) Reduce the mixture down for several hours. I put my batch and a half in convection bake 250 degrees for 3 hours and it was just the right amount of time. You want it to reduce down to about half.
Above are the whole spices I put in the cheesecloth (cinnamon stick, whole clove and celery seed)
5) Return tomato mixture to a heavy pot and add sugar, vinegar, salt, dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Mix then add spices that are in cheesecloth. I use a clip to hold the cheesecloth spice bag to the side of the pot. Simmer until sauce "rounds up" on a spoon and there will be no separation of liquids. I think this took about an hour. You could always put back in the oven and use that method if you don't want to have to stir frequently.
Note- I would start your water bath pot(s) as the spices are simmering because they take a while to boil. Because of water's high heat capacity they will stay hot for a long time so if they boils before you are ready just turn off the stove and then turn back on when you are ready. It shouldn't take long for them to return to a boil.
6) Remove and discard the spices in the bag.
7) Fill clean, hot jars- leaving 1/8 inch headspace. I sterilize my jars in the dishwasher and then put them in a cool oven and set the temperature to 225 degrees. That way they are nice and hot when I put the hot contents in and they don't break. Clean rims with a clean, wet rag or paper towel before putting hot caps on- I put caps in a bowl of hot water. Hand tighten rings.
8) Process in a boiling-water-bath canner for 15 minutes. Add 1 minute for every 1000 feet elevation over 1000 feet.
9) Remove jars and cool on a wire rack on the counter. DO NOT tip jars to get excess water off the top. You can use a rag or paper towel to soak up if you care that much. My water is so hard there is always a white residue from the minerals left on the lids that I then have to go back and wipe off. Let jars cool for 24 hours before testing lids for seal. I remove the rings and lift on edge of lid. If they don't lift up and the center of the lid is indented you have a good seal. Store up to a year and ENJOY!!! There is NO WAY mine will last a year. :o)
I would love to hear from you if you make the recipe and also if you have any feedback for my FIRST recipe write-up.
2 pears or apples (about 1 lb), 
