Now is the Time!

While we have so many fresh vegetables available it's time to process food and can it so that we can have a taste of summer during the cold months. I've been making pickles, jam, and tomato sauce and am so excited that tomato season is finally here. There really is nothing better than fresh tomatoes and I am excited to make sauce, salsa, ketchup and pickled green tomatoes this year.

Processing food may sound a little daunting but once you do it a few times, you get the hang of it and it is really so much fun.  Below are some pictures of Anne's process of making ketchup! If you've never had homemade ketchup, you should really make some. It definitely isn't the same as Heinz but it is so much better. The color is beautiful, and the sweetness and subtle vinegar taste is such a delicious balance.  Making sauce or ketchup definitely takes time because you have to evaporate so much of the liquid from the tomatoes but trust me, it is worth it!  See below for the recipe.

Ketchup
4 1/2 lbs of tomatoes makes 2, 16 oz jars

7 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp english mustard powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup brown sugar

Cut tomatoes in 1/2 and put cut side up on a baking sheet and coat with olive oil. Add peeled, sliced cloves of garlic, shallots and fresh basil on top of the tomatoes.  Salt and pepper.  Roast tomatoes at 350 for about 1 hour, or until the juices have started to release from the tomatoes.  Put tomatoes through a food mill to separate the skins and seeds from the juice.

At this point you should have about 4 1/2 cups of liquid.  Add all ingredients except the sugar to the tomato liquid and bring to a simmer.  Once it simmers, add the sugar.  I would cook it down for about an hour and a half or until you are at a consistency that you would like for your ketchup (should be similar to a spaghetti sauce consistency). 

You can either put the ketchup in canning jars and hot water process them or if you don't want to do that, you can keep it in the fridge.  Use it relatively soon if you do not plan on canning it. Enjoy!