Sweet Heat for Your Meat.   That’s the name we jokingly came up with when we finally found the perfect blend of  ingredients to create our sweet and spicy home-made hot ketchup.  It’s surprisingly easy to make – and you simply cannot compare it to anything you can buy off the shelf in a store.  When it first hits your mouth – you can taste the pure sweetness from the tomatoes,  red pepper and brown sugar.  Then, slowly, the taste turns to a slow, low burning heat from the habanero and jalapeno peppers.  It’s a great condiment for hamburgers and hotdogs – or as a marinade for chicken.  You can even use it as a dipping sauce for potato chips, french fries or chicken nuggets.   My personal favorite though – is to substitute it in place of traditional ketchup for an incredibly flavorful meatloaf!  Once made, the ketchup will store in the fridge for months.  During our summer gardening season – we make larger batches and can it for use year round.

Old World Garden’s  “Sweet Heat for Your Meat”  Spicy Ketchup Recipe

The Ingredients :

7 medium tomatoes (Roma variety is the best)

2 jalapeno’s with seeds

1 habanero with seeds

1 red bell pepper

2 medium Vidalia onions

1/8 cup of chopped cilantro + 1 teaspoon of finely chopped cilantro

¼ cup of white vinegar

1 tablespoon of pepper

1 ½ tablespoons of sea salt

6 garlic cloves

½ tablespoon of red pepper flakes

¾ cup of brown sugar

1 can of tomato paste

Our Hot and Spicy Ketchup – Easy to make fresh – or can for year round use

Simply chop and dice your tomatoes, garlic, onions, cilantro and the red, jalapeno and habanero peppers.  Put all into a large pot, add the vinegar – and turn your burner on medium low.   As the pot starts to warm, slowly mash down the ingredients.  When it cooks down enough you can begin to blend it all together.  We use an immersion blender – but you can use a hand masher, hand mixer or food processor.  Once they are all blended together, continue to let the ingredients cook down and simmer for about another half-hour on low heat, then put through a colander to remove seeds and skins.  Put remaining product back into the  pot, add salt, pepper, brown sugar and tomato paste along with a tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro.   Let cook down until you reach your desired consistency.  Remember that once it cools it will become thicker.  We simply judge the consistency by putting a spoon in the pan, and if the ketchup doesn’t run off – it’s ready to go.  This is where the Roma tomato really helps, it is a great paste making tomato – and thickens the ketchup well.   If your mixture still seems a little too runny for your taste – you can add a teaspoon of corn starch to thicken it up.  Once it is ready – you are ready to bottle and use!  The ketchup will keep in the refrigerator for at least a month or two.  Or you can pressure can it for 20 minutes at 10 lbs. of pressure and have it ready for year round use!