Thursday, September 14, 2017

Exit Ketchup

I had to drop some canning projects this year and ketchup was one of them (also peaches).  We're going to have grocery-store ketchup this year. 


 But we will still have a thick, rich tomato something to use on egg sandwiches:  tomato jam and smoked tomato chutney (but I used a generous teaspoon of smoked paprika).  I love them both so much and they make small batches, so I made both. Tomatoes were meant for jam, I think.  They cook down into such rich, meaty sweetness and partner so well with various flavor families.  


I have two more tomato projects and applesauce, and then I'm done.

6 comments:

Alica said...

Have you ever tried tomato relish? I made some last year, for using on hamburgers, hot dogs, etc, and it's quite tasty! My problem is that I put it in pint jars, and we don't use that much at a time. Next time I'll use jelly - sized jars. Not sure where the recipe went, though!

Margo said...

Alica, interesting. I make sweet pickle relish and use it as you described. Is tomato relish kinda like that?

Tammy said...

We grew a very small garden this year, and we did have a few tomatoes that did well earlier on, but never enough to put up. Oh well...

I did buy tomatoes on the cheap for putting up, so I have tomatoes and salsa. But I did not get to put up ketchup. Maybe next year, since we're planning on growing a larger garden.

I have found that I can make ketchup about every two years, instead of every year. We don't eat ketchup overly much, but if I do a double batch it takes just a little longer to boil down, and then my work pays off and I don't need to make it the next year.

Alica said...

The tomato relish is a similar texture to pickle relish, but has a tomatoey/barbequey taste to it. I wish I knew where I put the recipe so I could tell you what all is in it!

Becky said...

My mother made ketchup once when I was a kid - it has forever haunted me and made me extremely picky about my ketchup. As an adult though, I'm super picky about knowing where all our food comes from. My daughter pointed out that for someone who is so picky, it's interesting I cling to my bottle of Heinz ketchup. So I made ketchup one year - a very small batch, as I'm forever scarred by the stuff my mother made. I realized I don't care for the cloves in it, but in subsequent batches, I've also realized I don't have the patience to make my own. Maybe I'll try again someday, as my daughter still shames me that I buy ketchup. She does make me buy the organic stuff and she takes the time to read the label to make sure I don't buy a bunch of junk. I guess I did something right there with her.

As for tomato jams and chutneys - my family won't eat them! We do eat a fair amount of BBQ sauce though - on pizza of all things! And I made a few rounds of pizza sauce from Preserving by the Pint, as that's a favorite here. But no ketchup.

BLD in MT said...

Tomato jam is one of my father-in-law's top three favorites. I'd never had it before I joined the family. We don't make it, but usually get a jar from my mother-in-law every year. This year our tomatoes were a little lackluster. We're not done canning them yet, but I'm curious if we have enough to make tomato sauce and ketchup both. We'll see.