Recipes Homemade Tomato Ketchup

1. Even if you aren't a ketchup person (I'm not), there's a good chance you'll love this stuff (I do).
2. If you like to preserve things to give your friends, you will seldom run into anyone who says: "Another one? I have a CUPBOARD full of ketchup I haven't used yet!"
3. It uses up stuff that you would otherwise throw out. If you start with entire tomatoes, you use the skins and the cores. If you've been making sauce or canned tomatoes, you can use only the left-over skins and cores if you like.

The first time I made ketchup, about 10 years ago, I began by making it after getting bored with making canned tomatoes and sauce... my friend Lisa, who was splitting the bushels with me, had an ancient cookbook with a recipe for ketchup in it. We made the first batches using whole tomatoes, but soon realized we were missing out on the thrifty buzz (I'm part Scottish) of using up the skins and cores we'd been tossing out from the sauces and canned tomatoes.

Over time, I've found that the tastiest ketchups are made mostly or entirely of skins and cores.

I've also played a great deal with the basic theme and ingredients. Sure there are few ingredients in the recipe, but there are many variations of each of the ingredients. Every batch is made uniquely. Tomatoes are usually romas, but there are heritage varieties, golden tomatoes and green tomatoes, peppers can be anything from poblanos (I alway use something at least a bit spicy) to scotch bonnets and I've used chipotles at least once and vinegars also present many alternatives.

One time I made a green tomato ketchup, using granny smith apples and apple cider vinegar... a very nice complement to roast pork. Some have been made with enough peppers to almost qualify as a hot sauce, these are not ketchups for children...although it would be simple enough to concoct a version that would strongly appeal to children, by using a lighter hand on the peppers.

• 1 qt Tomatoes, including skins and core or only tomato skins and cores
• 1/2 qt Apples
• 1 C Icing Sugar
• 1 Onion
• 1tsp Salt
• 6 Cloves
• 1 Tbsp Ginger
• 12 Peppercorn
• 2 Chilis
• 2/3 C Malt Vinegar

Coarsely chop tomato and apples, including skins and cores. Peel and chop onions and cook with apples and tomatoes until soft. Add vinegar, sugar and spices and simmer covered, for 30 minutes more. Puree and sieve, if you really don't care much about your time or the frustration and wasted product of using the wrong tool, or process through a Mouli if you prefer to do things efficiently and have a full yield.

Pour into sterilized jars and seal with sterilized lids.

You could process^* these for 20 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts at this point to be on the safe side, but I trust the vinegar to keep it from spoiling and have not had any trouble so far.

^* Immerse in a boiling water bath in a canner or pressure canner - if a pressure canner, it would be considerably less time.