Check out Episode 22 of the new food podcast,
Chicken 'n Waffles!

My awesomeness has spread to condiments. French fries, look the ef out.

5000 words about food from me is due soon to someone else. So I thought this might be a good time to make and can ketchup for the first time.

(It is also a good time to clean the house, reorganize the spice drawer, label all my homemade canned goods--including illustrations, you know, in case I ever suddenly forget how to read and really NEED to find that jar of Hellfire date chutney--BAM--food picture, courtesy of Crayola markers. Crisis averted.)

Mah five spice ketchup cooking away.

Follow up:

As the legend goes, a 3 yr old Leena was once left by herself in the back of the car on a long trip with a McDonald's bag full of ketchup packets. Baby Leena used to babble and chat to herself, but her parents realized that she had been quiet for a bit too long. They found her face smeared with red, and a giant pile of empty ketchup packets. And a little throw-up. Just a bit. On my Rainbow Brite shoe.

The result was a lifetime of ketchup aversion. I will occasionally eat it these days, on a decent piece of meatloaf or with the occasional French fry, but really don't go out of my way for it. I love a good condiment, but I feel like I need more than tomato and sweetness on my palate for ketchup to come into my regular condiment rotation.

Enter Leena's kick-ass five-spice ketchup. It's spicy, it's sweet, a teeny bit sour and just a hint umami. I started off with a basic ketchup recipe from my favorite canning book ever. I trust this book for a proper acid ratio so that I don't kill anyone with my ketchup, but the seasoning had cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. I freaking hate cloves.

Canning my homemade five spice ketchup.

But I've been obsessed with Chinese five spice lately (love it in apple crisp, pickled cherries), so I decided to go with that. After researching a few other recipes online, I decided to add a bay leaf, dry mustard powder, fresh garlic, cayenne pepper and fresh grated ginger as well. Right before canning, I had to adjust the flavors by adding more sugar than the original recipe called for.

But in the end, burgers and meatloaves everywhere will be a little bit better thanks to my kick-ass ketchup. Now, what else did I have to do today?

~LTG!

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Leena's Kick-Ass Five Spice Ketchup
makes 4 cups

*Note*This is a recipe in progress, so the ratios of the seasonings might not be perfect. You made need to adjust them based on your preference of sweet to sour to savory to spicy.

Ingredients
7 cups or 4 pounds of chopped peeled tomatoes
½ cup of chopped onion
½ cup of chopped sweet red peppers
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup + 2 TB brown sugar or granulated sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. minced garlic
1½ tsp. dry mustard powder
1 tbsp. tomato paste?
3-4 tsp. fresh grated ginger
2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
½-1tsp of cayenne pepper (to taste)

*Puree the tomatoes, onions and red peppers in a blender or food processor until smooth. Place in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and boil gently (uncovered) for 30 minutes.

*Add vinegar, spices, ginger, tomato paste (if desired), sugar and salt. Return to a boil and boil gently (uncovered) until volume is reduced by half or until mixture rounds up on a spoon without separation, about 1 ½ hours. Make sure to stir frequently during this time to avoid any sauce burning.

*Process half pint jars for 15 minutes w/ ½ inch headspace and 4 oz. jars for 10 minutes using the same method I detailed in this blog post.

Enjoy!

Yet another gratuitous canning porn shot of my ketchup.