Homemade Ketchup with French Fries

Keeping with the theme of summery, fun foods...I got to thinking about making things that I simply buy or have around the house myself. I got to day dreaming about the Teryiaki Tofu Sandwich and how wonderful it would be with a side of fries and some really good ketchup. And then I stopped at ketchup...what really is it? what goes into it? I was sure I could make my own if I did a bit of research. Low and behhold, there is a wide range of things that claim to be ketchup. After a bit of experimenting on my own, I found a blend of things that I thought made the most amazing ketchup ever. And I was left wondering why I mindlessly buy staples like ketchup when making them myself is fun, easy to do and you control everything that goes into it. This means that you get to custom make a ketchup that is right for your taste buds! (Side Note: I am obsessed with ketchup, love it, ever have since I can remember and always will.)

For the ketchup:
1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, chopped roughly
1/3 c. chili, I used aneheim
1 c. chopped onion
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. vinegar

1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp whole cloves (4 - 5 pieces)
1/4 tsp celery seeds
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp all spice


Tie all of the last 6 spices into a bouquet garni, which is simply a fancy shmancy term for using a cheese cloth to make a little spice bag. That way your spices meld with whatever you are cooking, but then you can easily remove the whole thing too without fishing for each item. I simply used another strip of the cheese cloth to use to tie the bag closed. What you will have will looks somewhat like in the picture below. A little present of flavor yumminess.


Super, and now onto the next step. Add your tomatoes to a medium sauce pot, along with your spice bag and all of the other ingredients. It will look chunky and nothing like ketchup until the end, so no worries yet! Let this cook on medium heat for 45 minutes. The sauce of the tomatoes melding with all of the flavors will weirdly taste like hot ketchup, which is a strange thing. You totally get the ketchup flavor, but in a soup form! Awesome, right?

Let this cool slightly, as the next step requires the food processor. And as we all know (...or just me...from experience) hot things in the food processor can lead to an explosion of food. Not good. So let this cool a few, process in small batches while pulsing the processor until smooth.

Now, return all of this to your sauce pot again, and cook for another 30 - 40 minutes to let the mixture reduce down. Let cool, and keep refrigerated.


Now go make some fries to enjoy with your very own batch of ketchup! This just might change your life....or you just might make it on special occasions. Either way, you can't deny how good it is!

Lucky for you....french fries is next on my list. 'Cause fries and ketchup are made to be together forever and ever.

What you need for the fries:
5 - 6 russet potatoes
olive oil
salt/peppers to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, wash and peel your potatoes. Cut and slice into thin (or thicker) slices, depending on your preference of fry styles.

I actually got this really neat contraption where I place whatever I want to slice into the contraption, push on the handle, and nice, neat, even slices come out! It is another thing that motivated me to start this whole fries and ketchup thing, I really wanted to use it again! While on the subject of kitchen tools, you are either going to need the best non-stick baking sheet in the world, or a Silpat mat. I have tried several ways to get fries not to stick to my non-stick baking sheet without success until I was introduced to the amazingness of Silpat mats.


Here is a view of my fries on the Silpat mat. I poured about 2 tbsp. olive oil into a small dish, and used a brush to coat the fries. Then sprinkle with salt, pepper and any other flavors that strike your fancy. I fit about 3 potatoes worth of cut fries per sheet, so I got 2 batches made total which was plenty to share with another person.

Bake for 20 minutes, flip all the fries for even baking, and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown.

Now go eat fries with your very own ketchup!!!

Baked Teriyaki Tofu on Fresh Ciabatta Rolls

I have been meaning to put up this recipe for over a week now, and I am finally making myself sit down and write it out because 1.) it's been a while and 2.) this is so gosh darn good, I can't wait to make it again!

I really am more of a summer person than a winter person, and I think my cravings for summery foods have officially started right on time in the middle of winter with many more months to go. I really wanted a fresh, tasty sandwich that left me satisfied but not in a "i ate so much, this is so good but now i am stuffed" kind of way. I knew I had wanted to try out some ciabatta rolls that would be perfect for a sandwich, and even better with some homemade baked tofu! All I can say is...super yum! I can't wait to be eating this outside in the summertime! Keep in mind, the ciabatta is pretty time consuming to make, seeing as it needs a sponge made the night before and then several additional rises...but it is so worth it!
What you will need for the ciabatta rolls:

sponge
1 tsp. yeast
1 c. warm water
1.5 c. flour

dough
1.5 tsp yeast
5 tbsp. soy milk
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. warm water
3 c. flour (plus up to an additional cup, if dough is too sticky/moist)
2 tsp. salt

The night before you want to make your ciabatta rolls, you need to make the sponge. And it only takes a few minutes to get together, and you just leave it alone until the next day (at least 12 hours). Warm you water, add the yeast and let sit for about 4 minutes. Add your flour, mix together to incorporate all of flour, then cover your bowl and let sit for at least 12 hours.

The next day, warm your soy milk, add the yeast and again, let sit for about 4 minutes. Add this to your sponge mixture, along with your water and oil. Mix together, I did mine using my kitchen aid stand mixer along with the dough hook. Add 2 c. of your flour and the salt, and mix for 2-3 minutes on a lower setting. Then add the 3rd c. of flour and mix on a medium setting for about 4-5 minutes. The dough should be soft, but not enough that it sticks to the sides of the bowl or your hands. During the last 2 minutes of mixing, I slowly added a 1/4 c. of flour at a time until my dough was a good consistancy and did not stick to my hands. All together, I added a little less than 1 c. flour to get the dough to where it needed to be.

Take a large bowl, grease it with a bit of oil, place the dough in the bowl and leave it covered in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough should be HUGE at this point, doubled if not tripled in size. *I usually preheat my oven to 200 degrees for a few minutes and then turn it off to have a warm place to proof the dough*

Have a very well floured surface ready, very gently take the dough, and seperate into two equal halves. Be careful not to handle the dough in a way that eliminates all the nice, bubbles you worked so hard for! Form the dough into two long rectangular pieces, about 10 - 11 inches long and 4 - 5 inches wide. Then cut each piece in half, then in half again, leaving you with 8 rolls. Cover your rolls again, and let rise for about 1.5 hours. Your dough will not be as huge as the last rise, and will get only a little bigger.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and get a non-stick baking pan, or line it with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Pick up each roll carefully, and place the bottom side up onto your sheet, so that the floured bottom is now facing upwards. I did 2 batches of 4 rolls each this way.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, and after the first 5 minutes gently brush or spray the tops of the rolls lightly with water. Repeat this 2 more times, then let bake for the remaining 10 - 15 minutes.

Awesome, right? And so delicious too!!! Still motivated to keep baking and cooking after the great day long ciabatta event? Then make this super delish baked tofu to go along with the rolls!


What you'll need for the baked tofu:
1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed
1 c. teriyaki sauce/marinade

Phew...ok, onto the good stuff. Out of sheer laziness at this point, I threw out my experiments with making marinades and used some teriyaki sauce I had at around. I know, I know...but I will get back to this very soon because it is so tasty and I want to try out some original flavors.

I got the tofu ready during one of the many rises of the ciabatta rolls. After pressing your tofu, cut it in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces. I wanted these specifically for the sandwich, so I opted for thicker, heartier slices of tofu, each being about a 1/4 inch thick. All together, I got 8 pieces. Layer these flat in a pan and pour the teriyaki sauce over the tofu and leave in the fridge for an hour or two.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, arrange them onto a non-stick baking pan and brush the top side with the sauce once more. For this, I used my amazingly awesome Silpat mats, which I am head over heels for. If you don't have one, get one...it will change your life, it is that good! Unless it's just me and I am a giant food nerd!

Bake for 30 minutes, flip the tofu slices, brush the sauce on the top sides again and bake for another 30 minutes! And you're done!!

For my sandwich construction, I simply added a bottom layer of greens, two slices of tomatoes, two or three slices of the baked tofu, and topped it all off with some veganaise!