Kentish cherry ketchup

Ketchup doesn't have to be made with tomatoes,  the cherries used in this recipe make a versatile fruity sauce which has a myriad of different uses.  This is my own recipe, feel free to use it and report back, I'd love to hear how you got on.

The best of the fruity sauces, my Kent cherry ketchup, you will love it!

This ketchup is delicious with cold cuts, chops, cheeses, sausages, burgers, used as a dipping sauce, stirred through noodles or to accompany roast duck.  My personal favourite is in a simple bacon butty.

Having an abundance of cherries that we couldn't get through I thought of preserving them in this way and it turned out to be delicious.  The method is loosely based on Delia Smith's Victoria plum or damson ketchup recipe as I have her Complete Cookery Course book which I always use as my cooking bible.

I pit cherries wearing vinyl gloves, it momentarily appears that you've just committed a horrendous crime with your surgical gloves splattered in dark red stuff but it saves you having purple hands for a couple of days, just don't answer the door wearing them!  I generally chuck in spices and herbs that I have in my store cupboard so the recipe is just a suggestion really, you could add mustard seeds, cardamon pods, anything that takes your fancy.  Here's how I made today's batch.

Makes around 700ml or 3 Kilner sauce bottles.

It takes ages to pit cherries, but it's worth it.

1. 500g cherries, stones removed after weighing
2. I large handful of sultanas
3. 4 dried dates, chopped small
4. Half of a medium white onion, chopped 
5. 500ml white distilled vinegar
6. Half a level tsp salt
7. 1/4 tsp of allspice powder
8. 1 level quarter tsp of ground ginger
9. 225g light brown sugar or demerara sugar

In a muslin bag or cheesecloth tie the following spices (or any whole spice you have to hand)

1. 6 whole chilli peppers or a good teaspoon of dried crushed chilli flakes
2. 6 black peppercorns
3. 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds
4. 1 clove of peeled garlic
5. 1 small cinnamon stick or a scant 1/4 tsp or powdered cinnamon in the mixture outlined above.

Place your pitted cherries, sultanas, dates, onions, salt, allspice powder and sugar into a saucepan and put about 3/4 of the white distilled vinegar in. Tie the bag of spices to the saucepan handle and dangle the spices into the mix. Bring to a slow boil and then let it simmer for around 20 minutes with the lid off.

After the initial 20 minutes set the spice bag to one side and blend with a hand blender until at your desired consistency, if you don't have a hand blender you can transfer the lot to a food processor or liquidizer and blitz to the same effect.  Now put the spice bag back in and return to just about simmering point (blipping every second or two) for around two and a half hours until reduced and thick, like ketchup!  Around 40 minutes before you need to have your bottles ready sterilise them using the water bath method.

This ketchup is ready to use but may be a little vinegary for the first few weeks, it will keep indefinitely in its sealed sterilised bottles but I feel is at its best after 6 months in a cool dark place if you can wait that long, I generally can't and have a blob straight away just to check it's turned out okay (indeed, I have a half slice of gala pie in the fridge awaiting that pleasure as we speak).