ketchup -

by snebbu

100 Ways to Use Beer in Food and Drinks #7: Ketchup!

With summer grilling season upon us, I thought the time was due to introduce a beer condiment to the mix. When thinking what the best would be for the holiday, one of my favorite condiments came to mind: ketchup. This staple condiment is found in nearly everyone’s kitchen, and is welcomed to various meals ranging from burgers and fries to scrambled eggs in the morning.

Why not complement your craft beer (still not giving up on my “anti-big-beer campaign”) and burger/hot dog with a beer infused ketchup? Beer has a tang that complements the flavors of the ketchup, while also giving it a crisp, refreshing aftertaste. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any homebrew available other than my berry wheat, so I chose Yuengling Lager.

After forming a base with tomato paste, vinegar, beer, and brown sugar, I started experimenting with other spices in the cabinet. I ended up with a consistency similar to that of Heinz and a taste that was just a little bit sweeter than what I wanted (maybe less brown sugar next time?). But the beer did give the ketchup a bit of a kick to it, and an aftertaste that left a hint of lager with you.

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Writer and state fair expert Kat Robinson emailed us to take issue with our top 10 state fair foods, noting that we neglected the Arkansas State Fair, which runs through October 17.

While shorter than some of the other fairs in our nation, many original ideas do come out of here. For instance, this year’s preview has shown that we have two items — Deep Fried Battered Hard Boiled Eggs and Chocolate Smooches (deep fried Hershey’s Kisses) that haven’t appeared elsewhere.

Well color us corrected! And hungry for a deep fried battered hard boiled egg. Thanks for the photo, Kat. Don’t miss her full food report on the Arkansas State Fair here. Seriously check it out — barbecued rabbit sandwiches and gator on a stick — heck yeah!

– Speaking of rabbit sandwiches, everybunny loves brit’s report on butchering a whole rabbit carcass. Erica:

Another Victim of the High Fructose Corn Syrup Backlash

What can I say? Even a girl who’s tasked to write about food on a daily basis needs a pizza and fries kind of night. And so we ordered a large cheese and crispy potatoes on the side. This would have been an uneventful meal save for the use of new ketchup.

It looks like Heinz has fallen to the sword of real sugar and came out with a no-high fructose corn syrup rendition of their tomato spread. Last Target trip, my boyfriend picked up “Simply Heinz” and promptly ditched its chemical predecessor, therefore crippling our chances for a quick blind taste test.

Now, I totally fucking hate ketchup. (Viva la Mustard!) And, frankly, I’m not even sure if homemade ketchup could persuade me otherwise. But I saved one fry from a dip into a spicy mustard for a taste of the newly enhanced, newly natural ketchup. To me, it still tasted like ketchup. I’m still baffled why people want this weird sweet liquid crap on their fries, or anything. Why is it so sweet? Why!

Anyway, 80, an official ambassador for ketchup, liked the new product:

A little bit different. Less sweet. Lighter. Tastes like ketchup I had in England years ago. I probably could tell the difference in a taste test.

So for now, we’ll have to take his word on the difference. But I did steal a packet that they sent with the fries. Testing for another day. In the meantime, feel free to read some brain washing by the Corn Refiners Association.

Photo from flickr user Maalokki

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by BS

Top 10 All-Time ES Recipes

Ever wonder which recipes your ES co-readers are ogling most? Well here’s the rundown. From our humble beginnings throwing all our leftovers into a sushi roll to our more refined recipes for putting an egg on everything, here are the Top 10 all-time most-read recipes from the Endless Simmer archives. Click the pics to check ’em out.