I'm not going to pretend this didn't start out as something else. I really had my heart set on making Tomato Jam. I had a few recipes to work from, and what I had in mind was a slightly sweet, ginger-y, chunky jam that would be just as delicious on a slice of buttered toast at sunrise as it would be on a juicy grilled burger at sunset.
I had a large assortment of incredibly tasty organic tomatoes to work with -a generous gift from friends in my hometown of Wenatchee, Washington - so I was starting with the right stuff.
I chopped up a knob of fresh ginger...
...and about 8 pounds of cored tomatoes, with the skins on and the seeds intact. I would end up regretting not peeling & seeding the tomatoes first...
...but I did a little research in advance, and nearly every one of the dozen or so recipes I looked at told me to just chop the tomatoes. I believe only 2 of the recipes said to peel & seed the tomatoes before chopping.
I should have listened to my gut instincts on this one. You see, most of the time I prefer to gut my tomatoes - especially for salads - so why would this time be any different?
But let's keep moving, shall we?
Next I added some Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar...
...along with some citrus juice and a few other spices, plus salt & sugar, and brought the mixture to a boil.
Then I reduced the heat and simmered my tomato jam for a little over an hour, using the immersion blender
The taste? Exactly what I wanted.
A complex blend of sweet and savory with pure "ripe tomato" flavor.
But I had 2 problems:
1.) The skins were curled up, tough, pointy and almost sharp. Ick.
2.) The seeds? Kind of bitter when I bit into them. Double ick.
Thankfully I have a food mill
I dumped my unacceptable tomato jam into the food mill
A few minutes later, I was well on my way to a rather big, rather righteous batch of Tangy Homemade Tomato Ketchup. In no time at all I had reduced the tomato jam into two very different things: smooth ketchup and chunky pulp (the skins & seeds).
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Here's what I ended up with:
On the left, in a big plastic measuring cup is ~60 ounces of ketchup
On the right, in a small glass measuring cup is ~ 1 cup of pulp
I poured the nearly-completed ketchup back into a heavy-bottomed pan, heated it up, and tasted it...adding more sea salt.
And then I declared it perfect.
Next I ladled the ketchup into warm jars...
...wiped the jar rims, then placed lids & screw bands on them, and processed them for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.
I still have my heart set on a batch of well-crafted tomato jam, and luckily I have more tomatoes left so I can give "Tomato Jam" another try, after blanching, peeling and seeding them first, of course.
But I think before I do any of that I need to share a few cherry tomatoes with Shu Mai, my sweet little ol' tomato-lovin' Pug!
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