Condiments

Last summer when I told my godmother about my blog, she asked if I’d seen the article in the New York Times Magazine about making your own ketchup and other sauces. I had not, and shortly afterward she dropped it in the mail. The typical condiments in the grocery aisle, such as ketchup and mayonnaise, have all of the processed garbage and preservatives, just like dressings, when you do not need corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup to make them. Usually we buy organic ketchup and make sure nothing has high fructose corn syrup or other unnecessary ingredients, but making your own is fun and tastes fresh and fantastic.

My purpose in making condiments was that I wanted to end up with Thousand Island dressing to make turkey reubens. I figured I would need ketchup and mayonnaise to get Thousand Island, and that reminded me of the article from last summer. I pulled it out and sure enough, out of the seven sauces, one was mayo and one was ketchup.^[1] I will start with the ketchup which I modified slightly and it came out excellent.

Ketchup
2 t hemp or other cooking oil
1/2 chopped sweet onion (~3/4 cup)
1/2 chopped red bell pepper (~1/2 cup)
3 crushed cloves garlic
1 T tomato paste
28-oz can whole tomatoes with juice
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 t ground mustard
1/8 t allspice
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t cinnamon
1/8 t each of sea salt and ground pepper
1 bay leaf
In a large pot over medium heat, sauté onion and red bell pepper in oil until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste, and stir until the paste darkens a bit, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Roughly chop the tomatoes with a spatula as you combine everything. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally, for an hour. Let cool a few minutes and remove the bay leaf. Purée in a blender until completely smooth. Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.