Thursday, November 20, 2014

Cranberry Ketchup - A Seasonal Recipe

Yes, you read that correctly - cranberry ketchup. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I hadn't until I received a jar from our friends Kay and Michael who are excellent cooks, former chefs, and bakers. It's nice to have friends like that!



A couple weeks ago I picked up some cranberries and decided to give the recipe a go too. I'm planning to give it as favors to our Thanksgiving Day guests. I found this recipe in an old book (1963) called Freezing and Canning Cookbook - Prized Recipes from the Farms of America compiled by Nell Nichols, Field Food Editor. Don't you love that title? I don't think it would get through a publisher's committee meeting these days. I'm a sucker for old cookbooks - I love to read through the different recipes and think about times gone past. Sometimes you find some real gems in these old cookbooks even if the methods are a little different than current methods.  

What is Cranberry Ketchup? It is a spread made of cranberries, sugar, vinegar and some really nice autumn hued spices. What can you do with Cranberry Ketchup? I'm going to use it on a turkey sandwich the day after the holiday. It would also be nice with cheese and crackers. And I must admit - I have even had it with a regular burger and it was delish. Sometimes I spread it on bread and have it on a grilled panini. Here's how you make it..... and did I tell you? - it is much easier to make than jam or jelly.

Cranberry Ketchup 

Makes 4 to 5 pints - I used the very small 4 ounce canning jars that are perfect for small gifts. I got 10 small jars from this recipe.
 
24 ounces cranberries (two 12 ounce bags)
1 large onion (3/8 lb.)
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice 
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Chop the onions. In a medium saucepan, cook cranberries and onions in the water until tender and the cranberries pop - about 10 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring so that it does not stick. Let cool and puree in a food processor.

Sterilize the jars and lids. Reheat the Cranberry Ketchup. Pack in jars leaving 1/2" headroom. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner and complete seals if necessary. 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

ketchup is based on Eastern (mostly present day indonesia ) condiments, which were based on fish sauce. Until most of us settled down on tomato ketchup, there were many varieties, Joy of Cooking (one volume) has grape and walnut varieties, but mushroom ketchup was popular in the 1800's, too. cranberry ketchup sounds great!

Anonymous said...

I love your blog and have all your books. Thanks for the recipes-I am hoping to make the cranberry ketchup for sure.

Auntie Shan said...

Have you tried it on Fries? - Perhaps on some sweet-potato fries..?
Anyhoo, you live in Massachusetts, WHAT *isn't* made from Cranberries??!

oh, hey, BTW, I bought a pair of SHEEP Salt&Pepper Shakers [on sale!] at Pier1 today... THOUGHT of You!!
:-D

Mrs. H said...

This sounds good. I have been known to use cranberry relish as a condiment on a turkey sandwich for a week after Thanksgiving. Sometime I will try making and eating this cranberry ketchup.

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