Tommy K, Bloody Mary style
Friday, February 18, 2011 at 7:14AM 
People are often surprised that, as a ‘foodie’, I like certain foods deemed ‘junk’ by most. I am talking about tin spaghetti, plastic cheese, chicken nuggets, fish fingers... that sort of thing. I think really they are secretly pleased because, in all honesty, I have never met someone who didn’t secretly have some such vice. For me it goes back to childhood; my sister and I were only allowed these foods as treats so it still feels a little bit naughty indulging in them from time to time.
When we were in NZ, our host Dawn cooked a magnificent fry up the morning of the wedding (sadly, I have no photos, otherwise it would have been included in my post on the subject). As part of this feast, she cooked something I would never have dared try – ‘tin style’ spaghetti in tomato sauce. It was brilliant! Even my Mum (hater of all things junk) commented on how good it was. The trick was that she did not try to make it posh. There were no herbs or aromatics, it was just simple, sweet tomato sauce with intentionally overcooked spaghetti. Just like the tin... but better.
Now let me get something straight before you all give up on me now: I do not think tomato ketchup should be or ever would be labelled as junk – I’ve never met anyone who didn’t eat it. The above is relevant because, until recently, I was also of the opinion that this was something that one should not try to replicate, better to leave that to Mr Heinz. But, here's the thing, Dawn's tomato ketchup was homemade too.
I had forgotten all about this revelation until I was watching Saturday Kitchen and the host was making some Tommy K to go with fish and chips. It was so simple, he just added equal parts vinegar and sugar and a couple of tins of tomatoes.
I decided to spice it up a bit and make a Bloody Mary variation, but you could just skip the Tabasco, Worcester sauce and pepper if you want the original Tommy K.
This recipe makes 300ml. It could be doubled or tripled if you want more, you may just have to simmer the tomatoes for longer.
I hope I don’t lose half my readership by saying this, but I don’t think I’ll be buying it again…
Ingredients
Method
Put the tomatoes in a small saucepan with the vinegar and sugar and simmer over a low heat for half an hour.
Liquidise the mixture in a food processor and then push through a sieve into a bowl to remove the pith, using a spoon to push the most stubborn bits through (you should be able to get all but approximately 1 tbsp of pith through). You don’t have to blend first, but it will make it easier to sieve. Likewise, you can skip the sieving if you don’t mind a slightly grainy texture.
Sift the cornflour into the mixture and whisk it in before returning the mixture to the saucepan. Continue whisking over a medium heat until thickened. Season with salt.
Add the Worcester sauce, Tabasco and pepper to make a Bloody Mary ketchup.
Pour into a sterilised bottle or jar. Store in the fridge once opened.
Vix
Reader Comments (15)
I was brought up on Heinz spaghetti and baked beans in the fifties and sixties when tinned and frozen food were the every day diet in our household. I LOVED them.Also Heinz tomato soup. I thought they were unmatchable. But you're right , Dawn's was better. YUM !!
Well hello there - Fancy that I'm famous!!!!!! Would you like the recipe for both the spaghetti & the home made sauce? Both very easy. I have to add that if you decide to go into commercial production I would have to insist on naming rights & a good percentage of the profits!! ;-)
DAWN!!! I will answer on behalf of Vix....YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!!
I need to make it and relive the pure marvelousness of it...and turn chris' skepticism into unmatched praise!
and vicki...
brilliant! this looks really good...not trying to hard, just tasty...will be making it soon enough...
by the way... you forgot oporto burgers on your list of favourite 'junk'...im less than impressed!!!
( also i think its appropriate to add that i found a tin of spaghetti in the cupboard about 2 weeks after you left and was rather bemused...turns out dad thought when he saw the cans on special (ofcourse!!) that he might just fancy a wee sgetti toastie pie...inplace of ye old lamington...if you catch my drift!)
xx
Ma - So you were secretly a junk lover after all? I would say good parenting, but as you can see it didn't stop us loving them too! ;)
Dawn - Famous indeed! Yes, that would be wonderful, particularly the spaghetti. You can leave the recipe on a comment here (then everyone will know it is yours!) or email me: vix@onedishcloser.com. In any case, as you can see from this post, I always attribute recipes to my sources of inspiration/their creators. Regarding commercial production: your spaghetti and Tommy K are damned good, but I'd like to meet the marketing manager who could convince the rest of the world... until then, best leave it to Mr Heinz.
Cha - Windang King doesn't believe? You better get cooking! ... I did not forget Oporto burgers, I just don't count them as junk! The high fat content may make them unhealthy, but they are real chicken fillets so... I did forget chicken royale with cheese though. Mmm, burger king...
Made it. Love it.
It actually tastes like the 'real' thing!! amazing!
will have to make burgers or chips tonight or tomorrow to show it off!
one thing...I was a bit of a knob and put the flour straight from the packet into the sauce and the lumps wouldn't go away so I had to pass it through the sift again.
perhaps you could say "sift the corn-flour into the sauce" or is it just that I'm stupid?!
xxx
OK - here goes:-
Dawn's Spagetti (Actually Erin's!)
5.5kg Tomato's
3/4 - 1cup sugar (depends how sweet you want it)
1/4 tsp ground Black pepper
500g Onions
1/2 cup malt vinegar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp celery salt
Boil all ingredients together for about an hour then blend really well with a stick blender.
In another pot, melt 250g butter - add 1 cup flour, cook gently for couple mins.
Slowly add the pulp, stirring constantly.
When the mixture is boiling, add 1 packet of fat spaghetti noodles & bring back to the boil for a further 10 minutes until the spaghetti is soft.
Pour into hot sterilised jars, wipe the rim clean & seal - A wide mouth funnel is very handy at this stage!. Erin puts them in the oven for another 20mins @ 180'c to seal but I find as long as you use decent jars & seals you don't need to.
Enjoy!
Noel's Tomato Sauce
3kg tomato's chopped
500g onions chopped
30g garlic chopped
60g salt
1 x 5cm piece fresh ginger peeled & chopped
Cayenne pepper to taste
250ml malt vinegar
750g sugar
1 tbsp whole cloves
60g black peppercorns
Put cloves & peppercorns into muslin bag.
Boil all ingredients except the sugar & vinegar for a couple of hours.
Remove spice bag & blend with stick blender. Sieve before you blend if you don't want pips, but I prefer the real home style blend & I'm too lazy!!!
Add the sugar & vinegar & boil until required sauce consistency.
Bottle in hot sterilised bottles or jars
Cha - you shouldn't have to sift the cornflour in, I found that a tablespoon whisked in easily without lumps. Did you do it over the heat? Maybe Dad has old corn flour? Not sure...
Dawn - thanks so much for this! Brilliant. I got it wrong in the post then re. no aromatics; I didn't put any in mine because I thought that it would make it taste too 'posh' but both your recipes were fantastic, so I will have to give them a go to compare.
O MY GOD O MY GOD O MY GOD I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!
DAWN YOU ARE FABULOUS. The family is coming to sydney next week...I'm sure youve heard...im thinking this will be included in the sunday morning/afternoon fry up....im sooooooooooooo excited!!!
yes vix i think it is probably just old but yes i also had it over the heat...but nonetheless rave reviews from ma, pa and windang...now for sghetti!!!!!
xxxxxxxx
Yes Cha's replication is very good, like the commercial shite but better & fresher.
"Tabasco to taste..." mistake to offer Cha that option for it becomes
"Tabasco with sauce to taste !"
Cha - Hope the spag turned out 0k - good luck for the impending arrival of the MD's - Good luck
Hasi - You're such a snob!!!
Hasi (and Cha) - HA HA, that is so predictable. I did actually think of Cha when I put 'to taste' because I knew that she would take liberties with it.
Everyone whos tried it...LOVES IT...infact im going to have to make some more soon! We had burgers with it and it was delish! TABASCO and all!!!!
Dawn your unexpected package of sghetti and saucey goodness it truely fabulous...i may be hiding the sghetti from everyone...is that wrong?! and...i may have just had a truely spectacular sghetti and cheese toastie pie...YUM!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Cha - you were right, I take it all back. I made brown sauce the other night and I had the same problem. I think it is actually doing it over the heat that causes the problem! When I did it last time my tomato sauce had already cooled a bit before I added the cornflour, but when added it to the brown sauce the sauce was really hot and I got lumps. I have amended the method accordingly.
Actually I did think this might be the case...glad I'm not just retarted!
Wooo I've had an 'impact' on one of the recipes!
I feel special!