Makes 9 8-oz jars worth of mushroom ketchup
Requires at least 12 hours of letting the mushrooms sit in salt. 24 hours is better
Ingredients:
3 lbs of button, baby portobella or similar small cheap mushroom
24 oz white wine vinegar
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp whole allspice berries
12 oz. of chopped shallots
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp fresh ground pink pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 c. dry sherry
Equipment:
Blender
Rubber spatula
Large saucepot
canning jars
canning kit (optional)
food processor (optional)
slow cooker (optional)
This mushroom ketchup recipe is different than some. The traditional mushroom ketchup as I understand it is a loose watery sauce like worcestershire sauce. I prefer to make mine a thick sauce like tomato ketchup that can be squeezed onto hamburgers, pork chops, baked potatoes, anything that needs a zing really.
Pre-Process:
24 hours in advance of main preparation: Chop all the mushrooms into medium-small pieces (use a food processor to just mince them quickly as they're all going to be pureed eventually) and put into the large saucepot. Sprinkle with the 3 tbsp salt. Thoroughly mix and let it sit for 12-24 hours to leech the juices out of the mushrooms. 24 hours is best, but 12 hours will work.
Main preparation
Fill blender with the mushroom and salt mix. Add enough white wine vinegar to make it all blend smoothly. Blend until smooth. Transfer into another bowl. Repeat until all mushrooms are pureed.
Chop the shallots. Add the shallots, garlic and all the spices to the blender. Add enough white wine vinegar to puree it smoothly. Add this to the mushroom puree, along with any remaining white wine vinegar and the dry sherry.
Cooking Option 1 - Stovetop:
Put the entire volume of pureed mushrooms, shallots and spices should then go into the large saucepot. Put the pot on the stove, cover with lid and simmer on a very low fire for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Cooking Option 2 - Slow Cooker: use a slow cooker on the low setting to simmer the ketchup and cook it for 3-4 hours.
Ladle the mushroom ketchup into sterilized jars, seal them with lids and immerse in a hot water bath. Boil jars for 30 minutes. Remove the jars and label. These should store on a shelf very well for quite some time.
