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3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Oh Elaina, nice job!  Have you told me your ketchup recipe before?

 

You know, I thought I posted it last summer but I can't find it. So here it is again:

We like this lots more than the commercial stuff.  It looks like a million ingredients but i bet most are in your pantry.

 

TOMATO KETCHUP    

here is the original recipe. My notes are at the end.

 

8 Quarts tomatoes (preferably plum tomatoes)

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic minced

2 T salt

2 cups cider vinegar

1 T mustard seeds

1 stick cinnamon

1 T whole allspice berries

1 bay leaf

1 T. whole black peppercorns

1 t whole cloves 

2 T whole coriander seeds or 1 t ground coriander

1/4 t celery seed

1/4 t dried red pepper flakes or to taste

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar

 

1. Wash, drain and quarter the tomatoes. Boil them stirring occasionally, until soft, about 30 minutes. Measure 4 quarts of pulp into a large pot.
2. Add the onion, sweet red pepper, celery, garlic, salt and vinegar. Bring to a boil. 
3. In apiece of doubled cheesecloth, tie up the mustard seeds, allspice, cinnamon,peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf, coriander, celery seed and pepper flakes. Add to the tomatoes. Add the sugars. 
4. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until ketchup thickens moderately.
5. Strain through a large sieve, pressing hard on the vegetables. Discard pulp and spice bag and strain again through a finer sieve (or line the sieve with doubled cheesecloth.) Taste for salt and sugar.
6. Boil until as thick as you want it, stirring occasionally.
7. ladle into sterilized, hot jars, leaving 1/2” head room, seal and process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes for half pints, 15 minutes for pints, adjusting for altitude. 
8. Ketchup will be best if you allow it to mellow in the jars for a month.

 

My notes: 

After cooking the tomatoes i put them through a food mill with the coarse disk to remove the skins. 

After I strain the ketchup through a sieve, I run the pulp through the food mill with the fine disk and add the resulting pulp to the pot.

For me, cooking it down to the thickness I like takes HOURS - like 4-5 hours. So I do this when I have other things to do in the kitchen.

 

This recipe is from Helen Witty's Better Than Store Bought. One of my favorite books ever.