Awesomesauce
Cooking some barbecue sauce today, need a supply now that the weather is warm. First step is get up in the morning and have some bacon for breakfast and keep the bacon grease. Important later. Then, assemble ingredients. Organizational skills are key (note: dog in the background knows something is going on):
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Mixing it up this time, I added some mangoes and an apple to the usual combination of onion, ginger root, tomato and peppers. Gives it a nice sweet flavor. Now, chop all those veggies up and set aside:
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Remember that bacon grease? You left it in the pan, right? Well, heat it back up to medium and toss in quite a bit of minced garlic:
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After the garlic gets a bit of a browned look, toss in all those cut up fruits and veggies:
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Cook on medium or low until tender, stirring regularly:
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Now, you can skimp on a lot of things in this recipe but not on the spices. Don’t buy cheap chili powder or paprika. I like the Spanish paprika and medium chili powder from Penzeys. Here, we have some paprika, chili powder, and black pepper (ground in a coffee grinder):
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Add enough chili powder to soak up some of the moisture, probably about half a cup. Add paprika, black pepper and some kosher salt to taste:
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Stir it up to get those fruits and veggies coated in a nice layer of spicy goodness. Cook for about 5 minutes:
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Let it cool, or the next step could be painful. While you wait, you can read you daughter’s book on Samoyeds.
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Drop that concoction in the blender and hit the liquefy button:
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Now, we have what looks like baby food:
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Trust me, it gets better looking. Add the rest of the ingredients, which are (approximately – use your own judgement):
You could puree up some tomatoes and sugar and vinegar or read the ingredients on ketchup and use about four cups of it.
1 cup yellow mustard
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup honey
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup Soy sauce
Some hot sauce if you want. That jalapeño was kinda mild so I added a few dashes.
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Now, if you happen to have your smoker going, you can cook this on it in a big pot. But I’m feeling lazy today so I’ll add a bit of Liquid Smoke and finish it in the Crock Pot. Not much Liquid Smoke, a little goes a long way:
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Whisk away until nice and smooth:
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And, now, that baby food looks like sauce. Leave on low heat in the Crock Pot covered all day and stir every once in a while:
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April 3rd, 2011 at 11:53 am
Om nom nom!
April 3rd, 2011 at 12:25 pm
I’ll bring the beer! Fire up the grill!
April 3rd, 2011 at 12:32 pm
Do You freeze it? How long do you let it sit in the fridge?
April 3rd, 2011 at 12:34 pm
No freezer. I usually store mine in the fridge in old ketchup bottles. Or can them in mason jars.
April 3rd, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Yummy!
April 3rd, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Damn, my scratch-n-sniff monitor is on the fritz.(SKRITCH-SKRITCH-SKRITCH)
April 3rd, 2011 at 5:57 pm
How much bacon grease? When I fry up bacon, its usually by the pound. So, would that be about a cup or so?
April 3rd, 2011 at 6:17 pm
I usually fry up a pound and use it all. No real measure, though.
April 3rd, 2011 at 6:38 pm
Well that makes me happy.
April 3rd, 2011 at 7:16 pm
Cheers to you for making your own! I like that you control what goes into it ( and what stays out ) and are not relying on that goopy bottled stuff. Good job – awesomesauce indeed!
April 3rd, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I find a good shortcut is to just purchase a bottle of Kraft’s finest, but then again that’s probably why I don’t win any BBQ awards.
April 3rd, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Needs bourbon-maybe a pint or so.
April 4th, 2011 at 1:21 am
Well yes, but you have to add the bourbon after the mixture cools. Otherwise, you lose the alcohol, and its beneficial effect as a preservative. And restorative.
Fella showed me a trick one time. We had about a pint and a half of good moonshine in a quart jar. Not much taste to it really, but nice body and texture. He put in about four drops of liquid smoke, and it aged it about eight years. Color and flavor were just like bottled-in-bond whiskey: proof that the only difference between good shine and store-bought is time in the barrel, but it’s the barrel you’re tasting.
April 4th, 2011 at 8:32 am
So mind posting your exact recipe? I know add a lot of X and a whateverload of Y makes for special results, but for those who have never made it before, it would be good to have a specific starting spot.
April 4th, 2011 at 9:10 am
If it was exact, I’d post it. But it’s a lot of eyeballing. Roughly 6 roma tomatoes, 2 mangoes, 1 apple, 2 medium onions, 6 tablespoons garlic.
That will get you close. Just taste it as your cooking it in the crock pot. You can tell what to add. If it needs sweet, more sugar. More tart, add vinegar.