DIY Ketchup with Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

Today we are talking about DIY Ketchup with Crispy Sweet Potato Fries! So as you’ve heard (if you’ve read DIY Soymilk) my homemade soy milk was a brilliant success so with that I’ve decided that I’d like to incorporate more homemade staple items into my life since they are so easy and useful. Because of this, today I conquered homemade ketchup and daaaaaayummm it is like no other ketchup you have ever had before!

To be 100 percent completely honest, I don’t even really like ketchup. I am an all out barbecue girl and the only reason I wanted to try this was because the ketchup is a base for the barbecue sauce in the cook book I was going off of. But now I am eating my worlds because this stuff is like no store bought ketchup I’ve ever tasted; you can actually taste the tomatoes in it and it’s sweet (not oversalted like the store bought stuff) with a hint of tang from the vinegar. I really can’t describe it any other way so you should probably just try it for yourself to get the whole effect.

Keep in mind that this recipe looks a lot more taunting than it is. A lot of the time spend is letting it simmer so that gives you a lot of time to prep and cook the sweet potatoes and you just have to check on it every once and awhile.

One last thing to note is this is a great recipe when you have a bulk section at your disposal. There are quite a few spices that wouldn’t come up in your everyday cooking in which you only need a teaspoon (or so) of so get them in the bulk section at your local co-op (Bloomingfoods-nudge-nudge) grocery store! It seriously cost me around a dollar for all the spices in this recipe.

And as for the sweet potato fries… After I finally learned the trick of making them crispy instead of ending up with a mushy half french fry half mashed potato mess, they became one of my favorite (and healthy) snacks. The simple secret is an egg; when I first started making them i just used oil and stuck them in the oven (which just consisted of waiting two hours with them in the oven and still having them come out soggy) but the egg coating crisps them right up!

DIY Ketchup

(Adapted from DIY Delicious by Vanessa Barrington)

• 2 28 ounce cans of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1/2 onion, chopped in chunks
• 2 whole (but peeled) garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon whole cloes
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
• 6 black peppercorn
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• dash of cayenne pepper (amount depends on personal preference)
• couple dashes of salt

Start by pureeing the tomatoes (and their juices), garlic, and onion in a blender. Strain the mixture and discard of the solids. Pour the liquid into a large sauce pan and heat up over medium-low heat. Once at a simmer, lower the heat and let cook for an hour (stir it every now and then to make sure it’s not sticking). You are looking to have the sauce reduce to about half of what it was when you started.

While this is cooking, make the vinegar mixture in a little guy (sauce pan) by mixing in the apple cider vinegar, sugar, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, cloves, celery seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorn, mustard, pepper, and salt. Let this come to a boil over medium heat and then immidetely remove from stove. Have it sit and absorb the flavors in the pan while you finish cooking the tomato mixture.

Once the tomato mixture has reduced, strain the spices from the vinegar (I used a coffee filter but you maybe have something more handy) and add the vinegar to the ketchup. Let this come to a boil for 20 more minutes.

Lather over everything.

Sweet Potato Fries

• Large Sweet Potato
• Egg (or equivalent to 1 egg replacer)
• Salt/Pepper/Garlic Powder/any other seasoning you like.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes in equal chunks and let sit in water for 30 minutes to remove the starch. Pat the potatoes dry with a paper towel.

Beat the egg and then coat the the potato wedges in the egg and all the seasonings you like. Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet and roast for 20 minutes on each side.

Dip in homemade ketchup. Eat as a side with veggie corn dogs or ice cream. Yup.