Speedy Natural Microwave Ketchup No Added Sugar

Sometimes I'm just being so good about what I'm eating I can't stand myself; and then I find the cookies. Last night I had a nice grass-fed burger on one of my Funky Flax buns, with some smoked bacon on top and it was delicious. I also had this wonderful sweet, spicy ketchup and a pickle on it. Would have had red onion, but had none. I really do try to avoid grains,  sugar and its evil cousin, HFCS. Problem is even the organic ketchups, while they don't have HFCS in them, or even GMOs, they are full of sugar, and  not for me because I am not a modest ketchup user.  One serving? Hell, I just slather it on. I love the tangy flavor of homemade far more than the ubiquitous commercial stuff, although if that's what's available...

Now, last year I gave you a stove-cooked version of no sugar added ketchup, but when you are going to eat in an hour or so, it just won't be ready to eat in time. Hence this high speed version that you microwave for just 3 minutes. It's actually delicious still warm, but even better after it stands about an hour or longer.  Will keep about 2 weeks, covered in the fridge.

Oh, and I was so good about dinner last night, and then I DID find the cookies.

Speedy Natural Microwave Ketchup with No Added Sugar

Speedy Natural Microwave Ketchup with No Added Sugar

Note: if you can buy tomato products in glass containers, I highly recommend you do so as the linings of many cans still contain BPA. Read the label, it will usually tell you if the lining is BPA-free.

Makes about a cup.

6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2T rice wine or cider vinegar
1teaspoon Cholula or other hot sauce
Liquid or powdered Stevia  (two servings worth depending on brand)
black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt

1. Mix all the ingredients in a 2-cup or larger microwave safe container.

2. Cove and microwave for 3 minutes. Remove and stir. Serve warm or chilled.

Burger Night: A Not So Secret Sauce

My husband loves hamburgers. LOVES hamburgers. So much that every Tuesday night is Burger Night at our house. This is true. I love them too, but don't feel the necessity of having them on a regular day. I think I actually like the toppings as much as the burger. Maybe more. Cheese, onions and bacon...wonderful, sautéed mushrooms ups the yum factor even more.  If you are a purist, then its just ketchup, if you are a little odd or from another planet or country, mustard. For me, ketchup is good, but a sauce with mayo in it is the best.

If you grew up eating burgers at various venues in your neighborhood, the chances are, one of them had a sauce on it that you really, really liked. I know I did, and it was at a local chain called Gino's which disappeared for a while but now is back or rather reinvented in a more updated upscale version. Chuck and I grabbed lunch at the Gino's in King of Prussia, and the sauce tasted just the same as I remembered. Delicious. I have my own sauce I like to make that raises the bar on our homemade burgers, and while it is mayonnaise-based, it's not actually a copy of a fast food sauce. It's more of a grown-up, revved up version. It's equally good on beef, turkey, seafood or vegetarian burgers, even on a grilled portobello. And don't forget grilled chicken or fish filet. Schmear it on everything! French fries...chips... Actually, I could probably eat packing peanuts with this stuff on it...well maybe not, but almost. My burger is waiting.

I'm starving, so this is the best picture you'll get tonight.
Sorry, I'm not sharing anything but the recipe.

The Not So Secret Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (homemade or commercial)
2T ketchup (homemade or commercial)
2 tsp. anchovy paste
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
3 T grated or finely minced onion
1 teas. hot pepper sauce ( homemade, Cholula, or what you have...)
2 tsp. honey or 1T of sugar or spoonable sugar substitute
(2 tsp. capers or dill pickles minced)
2T minced roasted red bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste


Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate for at least two hours or up to 1 day before serving.

Condimentally Speaking: Natural Homemade Ketchup No Added Sugar

Delicious, Addicting, Homemade Ketchup!

The spices smell wonderful as they steep!

I’ve been trying to cut as much of the “hidden” sugar from my daily meals as much as possible. So I can eat UN-hidden sugar, like those wonderful little buttercream filled Belgian chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s. I’m trying to at least be conscious of it, and so many condiments are loaded with it. Honey mustard, salad dressing, even some commercial soups are a significant source. I’m not even talking about the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup, just plain old sugar.

The biggest offender, in my fridge, is ketchup, and while I don’t use it on many things, when I do use it, I slather it on. If I could limit myself to the serving size on the bottle, it would be all well and good. But I use a lot when I do. There IS commercial ketchup that’s no-sugar-added from the company that makes America’s favorite ketchup, but that’s sweetened with artificial sweetener. The bottled natural versions without sugar are so expensive that I’d need to take out a mortgage to get enough for a couple of meals of burgers and fries. 

This is a fairly straightforward recipe for homemade ketchup. It doesn't taste like the one you find in bottles at  most burger joints. It tastes fresh, and both sweet and spicy. If you want it closer in flavor, add more sweetener, and use something other than stevia. I have used stevia, since I have quite a bit of it, and so far have found no health issues associated with it,  but you can use other sweeteners, like sugar, honey or even Splenda® equal to 3 Tablespoons. I like to use whole spices and strain them out as the powdered products make a muddy looking ketchup. 

This ketchup is really good, and while I can't wean my husband off his old, familiar bottled stuff, I'd rather have this any day. It's really addicting.

Natural No Added Sugar  Homemade Ketchup

1T whole coriander seed

1 broken cinnamon stick

10 whole black peppercorns

3 whole cloves

2 bay leaves

1 T kosher salt

Stevia equivalent to 3 T+ of sugar

2 T dried onion flakes

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1-1/2 cups dry white wine

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

2T rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. hot sauce

water as needed

In a small covered sauce pan, place all the ingredients up to and including the white wine. Bring to a simmer and cook until it's reduced to about 1 cup of liquid. Cover and remove from the heat and let steep for 15 to 30 minutes.

Carefully strain the liquid into a bowl,stir in the tomato paste, then whisk in the vinegar and hot sauce. Taste for seasoning and add more stevia (sweetener,  vinegar  or salt as needed to get a good balanced product. Place the mixture back in the saucepan, and add as much water as needed to get a ketchup that will mound on your spoon. This will depend on how thick your tomato paste was, as brands vary. Bring to a quick boil, remove from the heat and let cool. Store in a covered jar in the fridge for up to two weeks. If it lasts that long.