This may sound crazy, but all I want today is for my burgers and fries to be happy.
Their happiness is important to me.Much like World Peace and marriage equality – Happy burgers and fries is a cause near and dear to my heart.
Sure it sounds crazy. I get it. You’re about to cart me off in a straight jacket. You have guys holding butterfly nets waiting outside. You’re poised and ready to sniper a bunch of meds straight to my mouth.
Chill for a minute and flow with me…
It’s June, meaning it’s “Burger Season”. Don’t pretend you don’t know. This ain’t new. You have attended a crap load of barbecues, from backyards to parks to rooftops. And what is on every grill from here to Mississippi?
Aside from a rack ‘o ribs…
Burgers! And you just can’t have burgers without fries, right? What, am I the only one who feels this way? Don’t act like you don’t connect your deep fryer and whip out a batch of fries with those burgers. I do. And since I’m all about this happy burgers and fries life – I need the perfect condiment to make them happy.
Enter: Fire roasted tomato ketchup.
Would it change things if I called it “Fiya”? I like “Fiya” better.
Let’s flow with “Fiya”.
You see, what had happened was… I planned to make an oven roasted tomato ketchup, but my oven broke. Then I realized “Oven Roasted” just doesn’t have the same ring as “Fiya Roasted”
Dig? So we’re flowing with this Fiya roasted situation. Wanna know how I made it happen? I blistered tomatoes on my stove top. Hardcore. I made a big ol’ mess.
I pureed the deliciously smoky smelling tomatoes, following a few deeeep sniffs. I added a ton of onions, garlic, and spices.
And I cooked that jammy down ’till I got it down to a saucy consistency.
Then I pureed and strained it. This jammy is sweet, tangy, spicy. Like your best barbecue sauce, but it’s ketchup. Fiya roasted ketchup. It’s just plain delicious and whatever.
As you can see, this “Fiya” roasted ketchup situation made some hands happy.
Those are teenage hands, by the way. Seriously. Teenage hands are happy, as are my burgers and fries. If we can just get this World Peace situation and marriage equality deal on track, all will be right with the world.
[purerecipe]
Fire Roasted Tomato Ketchup
Ingredients
Fire roasted tomatoes
- About 12-14 sliced in half and seeded Plum tomatoes
- About 2 tablespoons Olive oil
- Garlic salt
- Onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried thyme
For the ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 medium diced Onions
- 4-5 cloves minced Garlic
- 2 tablespoons Tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 2 teaspoons Ground mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- Large pinch Red pepper flakes
- Pureed fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup Light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup Apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Fire roast tomatoes on the stove top:
- Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment. Also, get yourself a large bowl for when we fire roast these jammies. Set them both aside. Very lightly coat the sliced tomatoes with olive oil. The tomatoes should be very lightly coated but not saturated in olive oil. You can use a pastry brush, if desired. Set them on the prepared baking sheet face up. Sprinkle the surface of the tomatoes with garlic salt, onion powder, and dried thyme.
- Turn a burner on your stove top to high. Place two or three tomato halves at a time directly to the flame (don't be scurred), flipping them every few seconds until the tomato slices soften and surface of the tomatoes have blistered. Place the fire roasted tomatoes in the large bowl and repeat until all tomatoes are fire roasted and have this nice smoky smell. Puree the tomatoes either in a blender or with an immersion blender. Set aside.
To make the fire roasted tomato ketchup:
- In a 3 quart sauce pan, over medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the diced onions and cook until the onions are transparent and begin to tenderize, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. To the onion/garlic mixture, add the tomato paste, salt, mustard, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and red pepper flakes to the pan. Stir until the tomato paste is combined and the spices are fragrant, about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Add the pureed tomatoes, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and stir to combine.
- Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for 50 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. The mixture will thicken as it cooks and will resemble a thick tomato sauce.
- Remove pan from heat and with an immersion blender, blend the ketchup until smooth. You can also use a regular blender to make this jammy happen. Note: Allow the ketchup to cool slightly before you place in the blender. Once the ketchup is blended completely smooth, strain it through a fine mesh strainer into a large clean bowl or a large measuring cup with a lip. Adjust seasonings if needed (I didn't need to).
- Store the ketchup in clean glass jars and store in the refrigerator. Ketchup will keep for about 1 month.
- Makes a little over 3 pints of ketchup.
