Homemade Ketchup with Pumpkin “Fries”

Janet Chang

I’ve been really into making my own condiments. It’s generally cheaper and I know exactly what goes in it. I wrote recently about how much I love ketchup and that I used to slather it on everything. I still love the taste of ketchup but just not the high fructose corn syrup that is is most commercially made brands.

This recipe for Homemade Ketchup (or tomato sauce as they call it in New Zealand) requires no cooking and tastes pretty close to the real thing. And what’s ketchup without some fries to dip it in? Pumpkin is currently in season and they are cheap and readily available. I’ve been getting buttercup pumpkins and slicing them into thin crescents for homemade Pumpkin “Fries.”

The trick to getting them to taste good is to use a bit of dripping when baking it in the oven. I am well on my way to getting over my fear of saturated fats as I’m now a firm believer that we need to get back to eating real, whole, traditional foods. This means eating traditional fasts such as butter and animal fat over low-fat margerine which really is a modern chemical concoction.

Homemade Ketchup

Recipe adapted from Creative Homemaking

300 grams organic tomato paste
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
5 drops stevia

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake until mixed through.

Will keep in the fridge for 1 month.

Pumpkin “Fries”

1/2 buttercup pumpkin
1 tbs dripping
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 175° C.

Cut pumpkin into 1 cm thick crescents.

Melt dripping. (I use a cast iron skillet).

Coat the pumpkin crescents with the melted dripping and sprinkle on the salt.

Bake for 40 minutes until cooked through and crisp on the outside.

[smallimage/smallimage]