A world without a good home-made barbecue sauce would be about as bland as a world ruled by evangelical Christians. I hate how the stuff in jars and bottles in the grocery stores mostly tastes like high fructose corn syrup with a hint of some other vaguely smokey and pungent flavor. That's just garbage. If I wanted to serve up a rack of ribs, I'd insist on a REAL barbecue sauce, just like I'd insist on using real hickory or apple chips while cooking them.
Today's Specimen
Ingredients
- 1 cup chili sauce
- ½ cup spicy Dijon mustard
- 1 cup green bell pepper, julienne
- 1 cup yellow onion, large dice
- 1 tbsp. garlic, small dice
- 1 tbsp. habanero pepper, small dice
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup unsulphered molasses
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp. hickory-flavored liquid smoke
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. paprika
- ¼ tsp. chili powder
- ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
- ⅛ tsp. cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp. celery seed
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
Directions
- Saute the vegetable over medium heat in olive oil until the onion starts to grow translucent, about seven to ten minutes, stirring frequently.
- Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and puree with the red wine vinegar and set aside.
- In the same sauce pan used to saute the vegetables, on medium-low heat, combine the chili sauce, Dijon mustard, molasses, brown sugar, liquid smoke, and Worcestershire sauce and whisk until everything is evenly mixed.
- Stir the vegetables pureed in the red wine vinegar into the sauce, then whisk in all the spices, making sure everything is blended well.
- Simmer the sauce for an hour, adding a quarter-cup of water every now and then to make sure it doesn't get too thick. Allow the sauce to reduce down to just slightly thicker than the consistency of a tomato puree. You'll want to check on it every twenty minutes to stir and add water as needed.
- Allow the sauce to cool and then store in the fridge in a covered container or jar or bottle (about 20 oz. capacity) for at least a couple hours before serving, preferably overnight.
Next Time in the Lab
Damn, I have no idea what I'd do to improve this! Well, ideas, but it's just fine the way it is. Still, no rest for the wicked, right? Not even for wicked sauces.
- Add a teaspoon of fresh ginger to the veggie mix.
- Add half a cup of cilantro to the veggie mix.
- Use a Serrano pepper, oven-roasted, to the veggie mix, instead of the habanero.
- Try using a less spicy mustard, like a brown deli mustard, in the same amount.
- Omit the Worcestershire sauce.
- Add a pinch (⅛ tsp.) of nutmeg.
- Add one star anise to the sauce, to be removed after the sauce has simmered.
