I’m really trying to eat less processed, pre-packaged foods and focus my diet more on whole, natural and home made foods. This effort led me to make my own mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise over Memorial Day weekend. I took it one day at a time – ketchup on Saturday, mayo on Sunday and mustard on Monday.
I’m going to take this a little out of order and start with the mayo.
If you are in possession of a food processor, and if it has one of those mayonnaise holes in the feed tube, it is super easy to make this yourself. And it truly tastes better. However, I felt the flavor changed a little on the second day and I got a little nervous since I used raw, unpasteurized eggs. So keep this in mind if you try it yourself… make it for immediate use and not to be stored for a couple of weeks. Or try to find pasteurized eggs. (I can’t guarantee the flavor after a couple of days with pasteurized eggs, but it should be safer to eat.)
The ketchup wasn’t too hard either, but I think this is something you need to experiment with to find the flavor that is right for you. While I love all things tomato, I loathe ketchup. French fries and cheeseburgers are the only things I can stomach having with ketchup. I was on a date years ago, in the (dark) days before B, where my date put ketchup on his steak. I almost walked out. Truth be told, I should have walked out when he brought me to Ruby Tuesday for dinner, but I digress…
Back to the ketchup. I think it’s too sweet and artificial tasting. So, if I can find the right flavor with homemade ketchup, this could be a win for me. It took about 20 minutes to prepare, and then you need to let it cook for about an hour.
As is very typical of me, I found a recipe and didn’t read it carefully. I bought all the ingredients, did all the prep, and was in the processing of making the ketchup when I noticed that the instructions called for salt, but the ingredient list did not. I added kosher salt, one teaspoon at a time, until I got to about 2 1/2 teaspoons. I also added some pepper. Even though I didn’t think the flavor was exactly right, I was concerned about making it too salty so I didn’t add any more.
The end result? It was okay. A little too sweet for my liking (you’ll see from the recipe below it calls for a lot of sugar), and it had more of a barbecue tang than normal ketchup. My niece Michelle did a taste test for me with my homemade version and a conventional (read, boring) store bought version. It was obvious to her almost thirteen year old palate which was homemade, but she did say she liked the flavor of mine better. Score one for Beth.
Now, onto the mustard. It’s a lot more expensive to make homemade mustard than it is to buy it. And it’s really not all that un-natural and processed to begin with, so there isn’t much of a point in putting myself through this exercise. But as much as I loathe ketchup, I love mustard. So I had to give it a try.
In my head, I was expecting the recipe to yield yellow mustard but it turned out to be more along the lines of Gulden’s spicy brown mustard. Don’t get me wrong, Gulden’s is good. But I’m a French’s yellow mustard kind of a girl. I think where I went wrong was buying generic mustard seeds. I see now that the recipe specifically called for yellow mustard seeds. Oops. Oh well, I bought what the grocery store carried. I should have used the internet. Or actually looked in more than one store.
Still, the homemade kind was good. In fact, it gave the store bought version of spicy brown mustard (not Gulden’s, some organic variety that I had on hand) a run for its money. In the blind taste test, Michelle guessed which one was homemade, but she said they both tasted identical. I guess mine looked a little less machine made. And I consider a tie on taste a win. Store bought mustard is good. And if I make something that tastes good, then I win!
So where do I go from here? The homemade mustard and ketchup will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator. I think I can work with the ketchup recipe to make it less sweet and more savory – it’s definitely worth trying again. (Maybe for 4th of July?) If I find mustard seeds in bulk at BJ’s Wholesale Club or on sale somewhere, I would definitely make it again. And maybe this time I’ll try to find yellow mustard seeds to see if I can take on French’s. As for the mayo, if I’m ever having a get together that requires me to put out some mayonnaise, I’m definitely making it from scratch.
The recipes are below. Give it a shot, and let me know how it worked for you. Condiment wars are on!
Mayonnaise
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 1/2 C canola oil
1/4 t salt, or to taste
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the lemon juice, egg and egg yolk. Pulse until smooth. With the processor running, add the oil using the feed tube and the mayonnaise whole so that it is incorporated in a slow, steady stream. Process until smooth. Season with salt. Transfer the mayo to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Ketchup
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes in puree
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 T tomato paste
2/3 C packed dark brown sugar
1/2 C apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste (I used 2 1/2 t)
Puree tomatoes (juice and all) in a blender until smooth. Cook onion in a 4 qt heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until softened (about 8 minutes). Add pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar and salt. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until very thick, for about 1 hour. Stir more frequently towards the end of cooking to prevent scorching. Puree ketcup in 2 batches in blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Chill, covered, for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to develop. Makes about 2 cups.
Mustard
1/2 C yellow mustard seeds
3/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/3 C water
1 1/4 t sugar
1 1/2 t salt
Soak mustard seeds in vinegar and water at room temperature for 2 days. If seeds are not submerged, add just enough additional water to cover. Puree mixture in a food processor with sugar and salt until almost smooth, about 2 minutes. Thin to desired consistency with additional water and season with salt. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
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