Making Ketchup from our Surplus Harvest

I did this by first steaming the tomatoes for one minute to loosen the skin. I dumped them into a bowl of ice water to prevent burning my fingers, and peeled them. Then I put them into a vintage ricer I bought on E-bay to remove the seeds and pulp. A food mill would be just as effective and a bit easier. This yielded about a quart of juice. I added two cloves of crushed garlic and put it on a very low stove to simmer all night. The next morning I turned it up to simmer until the sauce thickened and became a deep red color. I had a cup of thick sauce at this point. I added a can of commercial paste to add the needed volume and proceeded with Sally’s recipe. It is fermenting on the counter for the next two days. After that I will refrigerate it. The whey I used for the recipe came from a batch of homemade kefir, a fermented dairy product that is rich with healthy probiotics. The whey is a yellowish liquid that separates out from the white kefir and can be strained through muslin.

I’m sure we’ll enjoy our homemade ketchup, and none of our tomatoes will be wasted!

Cathy