I’m more than a little bit of a nerd, so when I come across an ingredient that I don’t recognize, I look it up. Some of these are relatively harmless {liquid sugar is a varying concentration of sugar water}. Then there are the others. Like high fructose corn syrup. There are lots of privately funded websites out there claiming that HFCS isn’t bad for you, that it’s just like sugar, but lots of major university medical research centers will say differently.
High fructose corn syrup and sugar are different at the molecular level, different to the point that the body metabolizes HFCS differently {faster} than sugar. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition went so far as to link HFCS to the obesity epidemic. Whether it makes you fatter than regular sugar intake does or not is still up for debate, but when it comes down to it, it’s a sugar that’s easier for your body to absorb and store.
Let’s be honest – I’m not skinny. I enjoy a burger and a beer and cooking with butter, but lately, my body has proved especially good at taking every single calorie and squirreling it away for later, as if it’s afraid that starvation is imminent. I blame it on this thing called age, but in the meantime, it’s time for me to seriously clean up my food act, and that means, among other things, lowering sugar.
Up until I discovered Hunt’s ketchup doesn’t use HFCS, I used to make my own. A la Sweet Brown, ain’t nobody got time for making their own ketchup when there’s good stuff available, but I do occasionally make it still because it’s a really good base for my barbecue sauce. That’s definitely one condiment you can’t find without HFCS and a whole lot of nasty additives. So if you’re not down with all the additives in commercial condiments or if you’re just looking to try something new, try these out.
Do-it-Yourself Ketchup
What you’ll need:
- 1 cup tomato paste {you can make this by seeding, roasting, and pureeing a couple tomatoes}
- 1 tbsp agave or honey
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
How to make it:
- Wickedly easy. Throw in blender. Hit mix. Done. If you want it thicker, you can reduce it for 5-10 minutes in a saucepan and boil off some of the water {tomatoes are full of it}.
Sweet Honey Barbecue Sauce
What you’ll need:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 cups ketchup {see above}
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp mustard powder
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
How to make it:
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent.
- Add the ketchup, molasses, honey, vinegar, mustard powder, chili powder, black pepper, and cayenne. Bring to a boil, then drop the heat to low and simmer 20-30 minutes. This will thicken the sauce nicely.
- Again, throw in trusty blender. Blend until smooth.
There are so many varieties of barbecue you can make, it’s amazing. I have my eye on a hoisin style recipe that I think would go great with a lot of my Asian fusion dishes, but this is still in the experimental process!
All in all, folks, you are what you eat. Make sure you eat good things.
KCS
P.S. I’ve also got a recipe for making your own relish that Pat at Rantings of an Amateur Chef was kind enough to share – check it out, and check out his awesome page!
