Slather it on

I have never been a huge fan of ketchup. I’ll dip my fries in it or make up some cocktail sauce when the mood strikes but rarely use it. Nathan on the other hand seems to be a bit more liberal with it.  I try to buy food products that have ingredients that I can pronounce and easily find in the grocery store. It is tough to find ketchup that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup. I think Hunt’s makes a version but it has to be the one with the label “ ALL NATUAL” not all of their ketchup is free of HFCS. I will eat stuff with high fructose corn syrup but try to limit it when I can. After getting tired of hunting down ketchup/ feeling too cheap to buy Whole Food’s version of organic ketchup I decided to make my own. It has a runnier consistency but its flavor is WAY better.

Homemade Ketchup

Make about 1 quart

1 yellow onion

1 can (28 oz.) of whole peeled tomatoes in juice

2 tbsp. Canola oil

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Bay Leaf

5 Cloves

5 Cardamom Pods smashed

15 Peppercorns

½ C. Apple Cider Vinegar

1/3 C. Brown Sugar

Heat canola oil over medium high heat in a large pot, this stuff will splatter.  In a Food Processor puree tomatoes and transfer all but ¼ c. of puree to a bowl. Add onion to Food Processor and puree. Put onion/tomato mixture in pot and cook for 10 minutes till onions start to turn a bit brown. Then add vinegar, sugar and tomato puree and lower heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.  Take spices and place in a cheesecloth bundle/ tea ball/ empty tea bag and place in pot, continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove spice packet, let cool, add salt to taste.