CATSUP!

No, relax, your cats don't need to go hide under the bed. ;o) This is a homemade version of a condiment aka ketchup. I discovered the hard way that our ketchup is not gluten-free. I've just been doing without since. But my daughter is wanting to go gluten-free too and she LOVES ketchup. Hmmmm.

When she was a little kid she was off sugar for several years. I had made her ketchup then too, replacing the sugar in the recipe with half as much light, liquid honey. It worked really well, not only sweetening the "catsup" really well, but also helping to thicken it a little quicker. She can have sugar in moderation now, but can't tolerate honey anymore. (Who says life isn't complex.) I went searching for my old recipe and found it.

Now, I want to give credit where credit is due: this recipe is based on a recipe in an old version of The Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. (You won't find it in the current updated version.) Here's how it goes:

1 cup white vinegar
2 inches of cinnamon stick
1 and 1/2 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. celery seed

You need to put these ingredients into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Then remove from heat and leave it sit while you move on.

8 lbs. tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1 cup sugar

Now, way back when this recipe was printed, 8 lbs. of tomatoes was about "24 medium" tomatoes. But you have to remember that years ago, fruit and veges were a lot smaller than the nuclear versions we get today. I bought 12 ripe Ontario hothouse tomatoes, medium to large, and weighed them when I got home. 8 lbs. right on. (That was just lucky.) ;o)

Method: Wash the tomatoes and cut each into about 6 pieces cutting out the core as you go. Put the pieces into a large colander in a larger bowl to drain. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of coarse salt over them to speed up that process and let them sit while you wash your jars, etc. Discard the liquid.

Rinse and place the tomatoes in a large preserving pot. Add the onion and cayenne. {WARNING: Be careful that you have gluten-free cayenne. Spices aren't always what they seem. I found out the hard way that my granulated garlic, which I thought was made with... you know... garlic, has gluten in it. And it's probably the onion powder in our commercial ketchup that's the hidden source of gluten. I wasn't sure about my cayenne either, but I know from using it without any problems that my Club House TexMex spice has no gluten in it, so I used that instead, putting in a little extra ~ almost a tsp. Be sure of the spice you choose or you'll ruin your ketchup.}

Bring the tomatoes to a boil and cook, stirring often, for about 15 minutes to render them down. Let them cool a bit, then put them through a food processor, then a sieve, removing the skin and seeds. What you'll have is a lot of tomato juice. (And yes, you could short cut the recipe and start with tomato juice if you like.) Place this back into the large preserving pot (I washed mine between innings so to speak and started fresh), add the sugar and bring to a boil, stirring often. Then turn the burner down to a simmer. You need to reduce the juice by half, so measure how much you have there on your wooden spoon, so you know when you're down to half of what you started with. You will need to simmer the juice for upwards of two hours to get there. Yes, you can do other things, so long as you keep an eye on it and stir now and again.

When it's cooked down, strain the spiced vinegar into it, discarding the spices. Add about 2 tsp. of salt (to taste) and cook for about 1/2 hour more, to desired consistency. Bottle up into sterilized preserving jars and place sterilized lid on top! Wait for the pop! (Reminder: instructions for preserving to the right.)

Yes, she tried it right away. It passed. It more than passed. ;o)