Cordial and Ketchup recipes

The basic recipe I use for cordial is from Rhonda's blog . I adapt the recipe to whatever fruit is in season or on special.

Orange and passion fruit cordial

Ingredients

1 litre of fresh orange juice

Grated zest of 1 or 2 of the oranges

Pulp of 3 or 4 passion fruit

1 kg sugar

1 litre water

1 1/2 tablespoons citric acid

3 teaspoons tartaric acid

Method

Sterilise your bottles

Place the water and sugar in a large pot and bring to the boil, simmer for a few minutes to ensure the sugar is dissolved.

Add the orange juice, zest and passion fruit pulp, mix well, bring back to a simmer then add the citric acid and tartaric acid, mix well. Remove from the heat.

Allow to cool, then bottle. If your family is not fond of passion fruit seeds strain the mixture before bottling.

Makes approximately 2.5 litres of cordial. I dilute at 1 part cordial to 4 parts water.

Sometimes I'll add the pulp of a mango or fresh pineapple juice for a tropical treat.

Homemade Tomato Ketchup - the recipe comes from Cook It Simply

Ingredients

3 kg ripe tomatoes

2 tbls salt

600ml white vinegar

250g white sugar ( I used raw)

1/2 tsp of each ground cloves, cinnamon, allspice and cayenne pepper ( I used paprika)
Method

Quarter tomatoes, place in a preserving pan with salt and vinegar and simmer until they are soft and broken up.
Rub mixture through a fine sieve or use a mouli to puree the mixture. Return it to the pan and add the sugar.
Simmer until the ketchup starts to thicken, add the spices to taste, a little at a time, stirring thoroughly.
Meanwhile sterilise enough bottles to hold the ketchup, keep warm.
When the ketchup is thick enough, ( this took ages, maybe an hour and a half to 2 hours) fill the hot bottles, leaving a head space, I left about 12mm/ 1/2''. Seal the bottles immediately or (see next step for processing).
Allow the ketchup to cool slightly, fill up the bottles leaving a head space and process at 88c for 30 minutes. I'm guessing they used a water bath to process the sauce. I've stored my ketchup in the fridge and it should be good for 6 months.
Label when cold.
Note the ketchup will be thicker when cold, so don't reduce the mixture too much.
I'm surprised at how good it tastes. Next time I'll add the full amount of the seasoning and cook it longer, as it still is a bit thin.

Cheers Lisa