Smoky, Spicy BBQ Sauce

Veggie skewers topped by wheat meat skewers coated with Smoky, Spicy Barbecue Sauce. Grab some napkins!!!

 

This post is for Emily.  She and Chuck were over for dinner one evening and we had a great time barbecuing and hanging out in our wonderful outdoor living area.  Emily shares my love of cooking and baking and all things food in general.  We both like to bestow gifts of our homemade treats on each other.  She came that evening baring homemade jam and I gifted her with a jar of some homemade barbecue sauce.  Both she and Chuck confided that they really didn’t care much for barbecue sauce, but they sang a totally different tune once they tasted this stuff.  She has been asking me for the recipe evr since.  So, dear Emily, here is that long promised recipe.  I wish I could claim it was my very own creation, but it is not.  I believe in giving credit where credit is due.  I discovered this gem of a recipe in a book from my library entitled “Prairie Home Cooking” by Judith M. Fertig.

Smoky, Spicy, Barbecue Sauce

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3/4 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup molasses, sorghum, or corn syrup (I use molasses)

12 ounces tomato paste

1/4 brown mustard

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (I use 1 teaspoon)

1/4 teaspoon bottled hot sauce(I use a lot more, I just keep shaking that bottle)

3 – 4 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Puree the onion, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and molasses in a food processor or blender.  Put the tomato paste in a large non-reactive saucepan over medium-low heat.  Pour the onion puree into the tomato paste and stir to blend.  Bring to a simmer.  Add the rest of the seasonings, and simmer the sauce for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and ladle the sauce into a sieve placed over a bowl.  Press the sauce through the sieve with the back of a spoon.  Transfer to a lidded jar.  Refrigerated, the sauce will keep indefinitely.  Reheat before using.

FYI: I do not do that sieve routine.  I like the sauce a bit thick, so I just remove from heat and ladle into glass jars.  I don’t reheat it either; I just use it cold.  It gets hot while you are slathering it on whatever you are cooking.

The veggie skewers in the picture were not marinated in the BBQ sauce.  I did make a marinade for those as well; my own concoction.

2 – 3 tbsp olive oil

1 – 2 tbsp sambel oelek (yes, I use this a lot!)

1 tbsp balsalmic vinegar

3 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tbsp roasted garlic rice vinegar

a splash of tamari

salt & pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to blend.  Place cut up veggies in a shallow dish and pour marinade over.  Toss to coat.  Cover and let marinate for at least one hour.

So, enjoy making and using this sauce, Emily.  I strongly encourage the rest of you readers to give this one a try as well.  It is really tasty and much better than any BBQ sauce you buy bottled from the supermarket.  And you it all year round.  It’s great as a dipping sauce, on french fries, veggie burgers, add a little to your homemade salad dressing, etc.  Have fun and enjoy your food!

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