I don’t know about you, but I’m so (like, so so so so) happy that summer’s coming. This winter was a long, snow-filled one in New England, and everyone I know is happy to see the thermometer finally rising a little.

Which brings me to thoughts of summer plans. Which brings me to barbecues and picnics. Which brings me to (you guessed it) all those homemade goodies you can pack into a picnic basket.

Now, when it comes to condiments, if they sell it in a store, chances are that I’m going to try to make my own version at home. If you have a blender (or food processor) and a stove, it’s easy as pie to make your own ketchup.

This ketchup comes from Saveur. It’s a great base recipe that you can customize to suit your tastes. You can also make it thicker or thinner by adjusting the cooking time up or down.

This is definitely ten steps up from most bottled ketchups, which tend to be laden with sugar and corn syrup.

This ketchup is fragrant with ground clove and ginger, and gets the tiniest bit of sweetness from a few spoonfuls of brown sugar. Half a fresh jalapeno adds just a little heat.

A brief history of ketchup

Ketchup finds its origins in the ancient Chinese sauce ke-tsiap, a spiced, pickled fish sauce that was probably more akin to a soy sauce than the thick tomato-y sauce we know and love today. It became kechap in Malaysia, and ketjap in Indonesia.

English sailors brought it west in the seventeenth century. By the eighteenth century, tomatoes found their way into the brew.

In 1876, Heinz started to bottle it and distribute it to the masses. The rest, you could say, is history.

A note about ingredients

For the mustard powder, I like Colman’s mustard. You can find it in the spice aisle of most major grocery stores in the U.S.

For the cider vinegar, I used Bragg’s, which I always have in the kitchen. Love the flavor. It’s also one of those folksy elixirs that’s reputed to help keep you full of life. Read more about its health benefits here (note that cooking will probably kill some of them).

The dreaded “pinch”

OK, so the spice measurements in this recipe are all in “pinches,” which I know frustrates some people.

I think the idea is to give you a good guideline for which spices to use, and let you decide how much of what you want to add. Add more or less of the ones you like/dislike. (For example, we love clove at The Mouse House, so I added a little extra ground cloves.)

If you’re not sure what to do, just add equal pinches of each.

For you scientific types out there, a pinch is generally considered to be a little less than 1/8 of a teaspoon.

What are San Marzano tomatoes?

This recipe calls for one 28-oz. can of tomato puree. Use the best tomato puree you can find. If you grow & can your own, use that. It will be even better.

I used San Marzano tomatoes, a variety that’s widely considered to be one of the best for sauce. San Marzanos are pointier and thinner than traditional plum tomatoes. They’re also slightly less acidic, with thicker flesh and fewer seeds.

The puree is really silky, a little sweet, and very, very tomato-y.

A can is going to run you more than the average tomato puree, but I think it’s well worth the extra buck. If you can find them on sale, grab a few and stash them away.

That said, use the tomato puree you like best. I usually use Pastene, which would be really good, too.

Don’t forget the mustard…

If you want to deck out your table with matched homemade condiments, try the Guinness Mustard I made a while back. It’d go really well with this ketchup.

The short version of the recipe goes like this

Grab all your fresh ingredients. Toss them into your blender with the tomato puree. Blend. Transfer to a pot. Add the spices and simmer over medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour. Cool and bottle.

Here’s what that looks like, step-by-step.

Homemade Ketchup

Recipe from Saveur

1  28-oz. can tomato puree
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled
1/2 fresh jalapeño, stemmed and seeded
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
Pinch cayenne
Pinch celery salt
Pinch dry mustard
Pinch ground allspice
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground cinnamon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Yields about 4 cups of ketchup (that’s about 3 1/2 pint jars)

Blend up the tomato base

Grab your jalapeno. If you’re super sensitive to spicy stuff, use rubber gloves when you handle the little guy.

Whack him in half and nip off the stem.

Slice out the ribs and seeds (where most of the heat is).

This is what you’ll wind up using.

Peel your garlic clove. A fast, easy way to do this is to lay your knife blade down on top of the garlic clove…

…then carefully press down on your knife really hard. You’ll smoosh the meat of the garlic, and you’ll almost always be able to pull the wrapper off in one or two large pieces.

Peel your onion, then cut it into about 8 pieces. Basically, you want to chunk it up so it’s easier for your blender to deal with.

Toss the tomato puree in your blender or food processor.

Toss in the jalapeno, garlic, onion, and brown sugar.

Cap your blender and puree for about a minute, until it’s smooth.

Now that you’ve liquified the solids, it’s time to add the liquids. Toss in the cider vinegar…

…and the water.

Puree until the mixture is uniform.

It will be a little on the thin side, but it’s going to reduce as it cooks, so that’s just fine.

Cook the ketchup

(Say that 10 times fast, eh?) Transfer the contents of your blender into a medium-sized heavy bottomed pot. I used my 4-quart copper pot.

Toss in the spices. (See my note above about “pinches” as a measurement.)

Whisk to incorporate. Give it a quick taste to check the seasoning. If you think it needs more spices, add them. (Remember though: Flavors intensify as sauce reduces.)

Set the pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.

When the mixture starts to boil, knock the heat down to about medium. Basically, you want the sauce to just hold a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 45 – 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When is it done?

That, to me, is a loaded question. At least where matters of tomato-y sauces are concerned. It comes down to how you like your ketchup…on the thinner side, on the thicker side, or somewhere in between.

How to test your ketchup

To test what your ketchup will be like when it’s chilled, stick a small plate in the freezer for about 15 minutes. (This will be familiar to all you jam makers out there.)

When you think your ketchup is done, put about a teaspoon on the cold plate. Stick it back in the freezer until the ketchup is cold. Then, taste it and see if you’re happy. The consistency of the ketchup on your plate represents about how the entire pot would be once it’s chilled.

If you like it, take the pot off the heat. If you want it thicker, simmer it for another 5-10 minutes, then do the cold plate test again.

When you’re happy with your ketchup, take it off the stove.

Season with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. Cool it to room temp on the counter, then bottle and refrigerate.

Bottle & enjoy!

My finished ketchup was kind of a medium thickness. Thinner than Heinz. Thick enough to slather on a burger or hot dog. It was the consistency of a thick, fresh tomato sauce (hey, go figure, right?).

I packed mine up in a few pint jars. One for our house, two for friends.

Storage

Keeps well in the fridge for about a month. Happy picnicking!

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I mean, you take regular ole butter, mash in your favorite herbs and spices, roll it up and refrigerate, and…presto! Instant flavor. On hand. When you need it.

This is one of my all-time favorite blends. It’s full of warm, toast-y winter flavors. Scotch. Maple syrup. A hint of smoke from a little smoked paprika. Chinese 5-spice powder, with a little extra clove, anise, and cinnamon thrown in. (Mmmm…)

This is one of those things that I make en masse and keep in the fridge for the holiday season. It’s great on everything from French toast to roasted chicken. Use it to garnish a thick, char-grilled steak. Crown a steaming bowl of creamy mashed potatoes with a few slices and some minced chives.

Like I said: Instant flavor. You get the picture.

Warning: This recipe makes a somewhat obscene amount of butter.

It’ll keep for about a month in the fridge…if it lasts that long, of course. The recipe is also really easy to scale, if you want to make a smaller batch.

This is the butter that we used for this year’s Thanksgiving bird, The Angry Chef’s Whiskey Glazed Turkey.

Spicy Holiday Compound Butter

1 lb. butter, softened
2 Tbls. good scotch, (we used Johnny Walker Black)
1 Tbls. grade B maple syrup (grade A will work, too…grade B has stronger maple-y flavor)
1 Tbls. Chinese 5-spice powder
1/4 tsp. star anise
1/4 tsp. ground clove
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. kosher salt

Yields slightly more than 1 lb. of compound butter. Keeps about 4 weeks.

Flavor the butter

Grab your butter. (In the U.S., one pound of butter = 4 sticks, which is usually one box.)

Slice it up and leave it to soften on the counter for maybe 20 minutes. Basically, you want it soft enough that you can mash it easily with a fork.

When it’s soft, mash it up.

Add the scotch and the maple syrup.

For the maple syrup, I used the Grade B syrup that the good folks at Vermont’s Smith Maple Crest Farm were kind enough to send me. (Thank you, guys!!!) Their syrup has great flavor, and they sell it online. Get some for yourself here.

Toss in the 5-spice powder, anise, clove, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and kosher salt.

Mash it all up with a fork to combine well.

Give it a taste. Add more of salt or spices if you think it needs it.

Wrap and roll

Grab a large sheet of waxed paper. For this amount of butter, you’ll need about a foot-and-a-half or so.

Scoop the butter onto the waxed paper.

Roll it up, tucking the butter under as you roll, just like you would with a burrito or an egg roll.

You want to wind up with a long tube of butter, like this.

Twist the ends like a piece of hard candy. Pop it into the fridge for at least a few hours to harden up. (You can cheat and try to speed it up by putting it in the freezer, just keep an eye on it to be sure it doesn’t freeze solid.)

Slice off as needed. Enjoy!

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You know me: If it’s got Guinness stout in it, chances are, I’m gonna love it. This mustard is no exception.

It’s earthy, salty, and tangy—and totally my new favorite thing to spread on sandwiches and burgers. I think it would be great in BBQ marinades, too.

Thank to the good folks at Saveur magazine for the recipe. It’s definitely a keeper.

The process couldn’t be easier. It takes two or three days to make, but there’s about 15 minutes of active cooking time (if that).

Basically, you combine all the ingredients, then let them sit on the counter for one or two days to mingle. During that time, the mustard seeds soak up all that good stout and vinegar, which softens them up.

Then, you whizz the whole mess up in the food processor for about 3 minutes to thicken it, and…voila! Homemade Guinness mustard.

Your beer loving friends will think you’re a hero.

Warning: This recipe makes a lot of mustard

As in, three-and-a-half cups of it.

For comparison, a regular-size jar of Grey Poupon holds 8 oz.—or one cup—of mustard.

So, if you don’t think you’re going to go through it (or don’t plan on passing out your homemade concoction to your friends), I’d recommend cutting the recipe in half.

That said, it does last. The mustard will keep for about six months in the fridge. I packed mine into a couple pint-sized canning jars.

About mustard seeds

OK, there’s more to it than this, but here are the basics about mustard seeds.

There are three main types of mustard seeds: White (sinapis alba, often referred to as yellow), brown (brassica juncea), and black (brassica nigra).

Most grocery stores will carry the yellow type. Use the yellow or the brown to make this mustard. If you can’t find them in person, Penzey’s is a great source for spices.

Mustard in history and legend

• In Latin, the word mustard is “mustum ardems,” which means  “burning must.”
• The mustard plant is in the same family as wasabi, watercress, horseradish, and arugula—all of which get their burn from a group of chemicals known as isothiocyanates. The plant is really hearty, and can thrive almost anywhere.

• Mustard has been used medicinally since ancient times. Mustard plasters can increase breathing for a congested person and also relieve swelling by increasing blood flow to the surface of the skin.
• Young mustard greens add a sharp bite to salads and sandwiches.
• The Chinese considered mustard to be an aphrodisiac.
• German women sewed mustard seeds into the hems of their wedding gowns to help assure they’d keep the upper hand over their husbands.

Alrighty! Let’s get to it!

Spicy Guinness Mustard

Adapted from Saveur

1 1/2 cups Guinness Extra Stout
1 1/2 cups yellow mustard seeds (about 10 oz.)
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Makes about 3 1/2 cups of mustard

Make the mustard mixture

Crack open your Guinness. (Mmmm…)

Use the extra stout, the regular kind, or substitute your favorite stout.

Measure it out.

One thing to note: Check your measurement once the foamy head subsides a little bit to be sure you have an accurate amount.

(Liquid to solid proportions are important in this recipe, because they govern how thick/thin your mustard will be. Too much beer = runny mustard. Not enough beer = super thick.)

Pour it into a medium-sized, non-reactive bowl. (“Non-reactive” means that your bowl is made out of a material that won’t react with acid. Use ceramic, glass, enamel, or stainless steel. Avoid aluminum.)

(You know I didn’t let that leftover Guinness go to waste…)

Add your red wine vinegar to the bowl. I used Colavita brand, but any will do. As with most condiments and sauces, the better flavor your ingredients, the better flavor your end product.

Toss in the salt, pepper, and all the spices.

This recipe makes a nicely—but not overly—spiced mustard. Adjust the spices up or down (or add others) to suit your taste.

Whisk together gently (the stout will still be nice and bubbly and you don’t want a mess…) until the mixture is fairly uniform.

Toss in the mustard seeds.

And whisk to incorporate.

Let the mustard age for a few days

Cover with plastic wrap. Set the bowl on your counter and let it sit, undisturbed, for one or two days. (I let mine age for 2 days.) This is to let the seeds soften up so you can pulverize them.

Process the mustard

After a day or two, your mustard seeds should have soaked up a lot of the liquid. That’s just fine. (In fact, that’s what you want. It means that the seeds are softer now.)

Toss the contents of your bowl into your food processor. I’m guessing you could also do this, in batches, in a good (i.e. powerful) blender, though I haven’t tried it.

Process for about 3 minutes.

As the seeds break down, the mixture will get thicker. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, if need be.

Stop a few times to check the thickness. When you’re happy with how thick it is, stop.

I was aiming for a very thick mustard, like this:

Package and enjoy!

Spoon the mustard out into prepared (i.e. very clean) jars or a bowl. Keep the mustard in the fridge. It’ll be good for about six months. That is, if it lasts that long.

Enjoy!

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Making butter at home is surprisingly easy to do. All you need is fresh heavy cream—and maybe a little salt, if you want salted butter. That’s it. (No, really: That’s it.)

No, you don’t need a butter churn

Unless, of course, you have one.

When I told one of my best friends that I made butter, he exclaimed something like, “Wait, you don’t have a butter churn…do you?”

(If you know me—and you know how much cooking equipment is socked away in our kitchen and basement—it’s always good to doublecheck these details.)

No, I don’t have a butter churn.

I have something better: An electric mixer.

As good as it would be for my arms, I’m not sure I could hack churning butter the old-fashioned way.

I should note that this isn’t a cheaper way of stocking up on butter. Chances are good that this amount of heavy cream will always cost more than a pound of butter.

But you don’t make butter this way because you want to save money. You do it because it’s really cool—and, of course, it gives you the opportunity to triumphantly bellow, “Holy %$&#, I just made butter!!”

Which everyone should do at least once in their life.

What is butter made of, anyway?

Butter is made of a few things: Butterfat, water, and milk proteins.

Butter made from fermented cream is known as cultured butter, which is more full flavored. You can make it by adding yogurt to the cream and aging it a little before you beat it to bits. (That’s next. Stay tuned.)

Start with high-quality heavy cream. If you can get it from a farm, that’s a big bonus. Basically, the better your cream tastes, the higher quality your butter will be.

How to make your own butter

Butter is basically cream that’s been beaten until it separates.

Most cooks have done this before by accident—by overbeating whipped cream.

You know what I mean: Your whipped cream is perfect one minute, then you blink twice and it starts to break down and get grainy.

When you make whipped cream, most of the time, you’re aiming for stiff peaks (when the whipped cream will stand up on the beater in straight little points).

When you make butter, you whip your cream to stiff peaks. And then you keep going.

For folks outside the U.S., heavy cream is cream that has 36 – 40% butterfat.

What can you do with homemade butter?

You mean, aside from gobble it up on fresh bread with reckless abandon? Use homemade butter in any way that you’d use regular butter. In baking and cooking, etc.

Since you’ve gone through the trouble of making it with good cream, I’d be more inclined to keep it pure, and use it on toast and pancakes—or anything where the butter flavor will really shine through.

You could also use it to make compound butter. Here are a few ideas:

• Fresh Herb Compound Butter
• Drunken Cranberry Orange Compound Butter
• Pecan Scotch Compound Butter
• Roasted Garlic Compound Butter
  

Here’s the whole process, from start to finish.

Homemade Butter

6 cups heavy cream
salt to taste

Yields about 1 lb of butter

Beat the cream until it separates

Grab your cream.

Put it in the bowl of your stand mixer—or in a large mixing bowl, if you’re using a handheld mixer.

If you have a splash guard for your mixer, you might want to use it. You’re beating on fairly high speed, which means your cream can spit a little.

Note: I stopped the mixer a bunch of times to take pictures of the different stages. You don’t have to do that. Just the mixer on and let it run. The whole process should take just under 10 minutes.

Turn the mixer on on medium-high speed.

As you beat the cream, it will begin to thicken.

And get thicker…

…and thicker…

Until eventually you have a bowl of traditional whipped cream.

(There’s your stiff peak.)

Keep beating! The whipped cream will start to get a little grainy looking.

And as you beat, it will lose all that lovely volume.

(That’s just fine. That means it’s starting to break down.)

It will also turn a pale yellow…

…and get really curdle-y and a little gross looking.

Keep beating. You’re almost there.

When the contents of your bowl starts to splatter a little, it’s a good sign that you’re done. This means that the buttermilk has separated out from the solids.

Here’s what the butter solids look like:

Strain the buttermilk

Set a mesh strainer over a bowl.

Pour the butter and buttermilk through the strainer.

Be sure to use a deep bowl. You don’t want the strainer sitting in the buttermilk, like this.

(I had to swap my bowls out.)

Knead the butter to squeeze out any excess liquid

Next, gather the butter into a ball and knead it.

You’re doing this to smoosh any remaining buttermilk out of it.

When all the liquid is out of the butter, you’ll wind up with a ball like this.

(This is where you hold your butter ball up triumphantly and bellow, “Holy &%@#, I just made butter!”)

Set it aside for a minute while you figure out what to do with the buttermilk. If you want to save it, cover it and keep it in the fridge. You can use it in bread, scones, muffins, etc.

(Keep in mind that this liquid isn’t the same thing as the cultured buttermilk that you buy in the store, which has been fermented.)

All told, I wound up with 18.85 ounces of butter, which is just over 1 pound.

Add salt, if you like

If you prefer salted to unsalted butter, knead in a little bit of kosher salt. I didn’t do this, but I’d use 1/2 tsp. – 1 tsp. Definitely start with less and taste as you go.

When you’re happy with how it tastes, pack it into a bowl or a few ramekins.

Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks

Wrap it tightly (butter absorbs odors) and keep it in the fridge. It should keep for about 2 weeks.

That is, of course, if it lasts that long.

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I know: When will I stop raving about compound butter? Never, probably. (But I’ll bet you could guess that.) The stuff is just too easy to make—and too darned good.

What is compound butter?

If you’ve never made it, compound butter is a great way to add a lot of flavor to a dish with very little effort. It’s generally used as a finishing ingredient or a garnish.

To make compound butter, just soften the butter up, then smoosh in a bunch of ingredients to give it a certain flavor.

For examples of other flavor-packed, buttery goodness, check out my Pecan Scotch Compound Butter and Fresh Herb Compound Butter.

Mmm, cranberries soaked in cognac

For this particular compound butter, you macerate (soak) chopped, dried cranberries in cognac. The cranberries plump up and absorb a little of the liquor. The remaining cognac gets perfumed with cranberry flavor.

Use sweetened dried cranberries for this recipe. (In the U.S., I’m talking about the ubiquitous Craisin.)

Uses for cranberry orange butter

This Drunken Cranberry Orange Butter is great on baked goods (English muffins, croissants, etc.). It’s also a great topping for pancakes and waffles. You can use it as a spread for chicken or turkey sandwiches—or stir it into wild rice before serving.

The sweetness of the dried cranberries is tempered by a generous drizzle of cognac and a spoonful of bright, fresh orange zest.

If you don’t have any cognac on hand, try a little brandy or even dark rum.

Drunken Cranberry Orange Compound Butter

8 Tbls. butter (that’s one stick in the U.S.)
1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
2 Tbls. cognac
1 Tbls. orange zest

Yields about 9 Tbls. butter

Macerate the dried cranberries in cognac

Take the butter out of the fridge and set it on the counter to soften. By the time your cranberries are ready, the butter should be soft enough to use.

Chop up the dried cranberries.

Toss them into a small bowl. Drizzle with cognac.

Give them a stir. Let them sit on the counter for about 30 minutes.

Mix up the compound butter

Zest your orange.

I used about a tablespoon, but by all means use more or less depending on your taste.

After about 30 minutes, you should notice that your cranberries have absorbed some of the cognac. Toss the orange zest into the bowl.

Put the butter into a medium-sized bowl. Mash it up with a fork to break it up.

Toss in the contents of your bowl (cranberries, cognac, orange zest).

With a fork, mash the contents of your bowl together.

It will take a minute or two to work the cranberries and zest into the butter—and for the cognac to disappear into the butter.

You’re aiming for a uniform mixture, like this:

Give the butter a taste. This is your chance to correct the seasoning, if you want to. (Add more orange zest, etc., to it if you think it needs it.)

Roll the compound butter up and refrigerate

Put a large piece of wax paper on the counter.

Scoop the butter mixture onto the center of the paper.

Smoosh it into a rough log shape.

Roll the butter up in wax paper.

Twist each end of the wax paper, just like a hard candy wrapper.

Pop the butter into the fridge for at least an hour, or until solid again.

Enjoy your compound butter!

After about an hour, your butter should have solidified.

When you unroll it to slice it, it’ll be generously flecked with orange rind and bits of cranberry.

Enjoy!

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