BBQ Sauce (Dinner!)

[Nija]

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup smoked bacon, cut into rectangles about 1 inch long
1/2 cup sweet (Vidalia) onion minced
5 gloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup apple juice
Cider vinegar

Heat the oil in a saucepan set over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the onion, garlic, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and cloves. Cook for about 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the sugar and water and then bring to a simmer. Stir in the ketchup, mustard, honey, preserves and juice and then simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and season with the vinegar. Remove the bacon with a spider and discard. Puree the mixture with a hand blender and then cool and reserve for later use.

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I think I'm going to cut it down to 2 cloves of garlic and I'm going to leave the bacon in.

I was thinking about taking the sauce and mixing it\marinating it with some ground beef for some burgers. Maybe I'll make some homemade french fries.

[Yossarian]

you can probably go without the apricot, as thats going to be a super sweet sauce even without it. also, maybe add a teaspoon of chili powder or some other spice yo ulike for a little heat.

[ShawnLee]

Yeah, I'm thinking that sounds awesome depending on how sweet you want it. Apricot preserves sound like they could push it over to the overly sweet side.

I'm not a fan of wasting bacon, but is there a sanitary/preservation reason that the original recipe tosses it out?

[Yossarian]

probably to avoid chunkage. however, i know some BBQ sauces that have very small(this onion roll onions) onion pieces that go well in the sauce

[Kim]

Yum, sounds good!

[Nija]

It was very sweet. Too much so. I did add some chili powder but there was so much sweetness it had almost no effect.

Oh well.

[Yossarian]

yeah, take out the apricot. maybe get some of this for flavor http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyschilicon.html

[Nija]

Well, it also smelled like cooked ketchup, which isn't the best smell ever.

I think I just want something a little tangier.

[Yossarian]

substitute regular tomato sauce for the ketchup.

tangier as in more bitter, or more spice, or more flavor?

[Nija]

Good question. When I think of BBQ sauce, I think of a thick, deep red sauce with varying degrees of smoke-iness, a bit of a tang on the tongue and some spice.

Perhaps I would just be better off buying a premade sauce. I don't really have a grill (Not true, my complex has propane ones, but they are in horrible condition and everything ends up bad).

[Yossarian]

hmmmm, there's a bunch of products out there for smoky flavor. the obvious one being Chipolte. its really a personal preference on what kind you like. then there's also "Liquid Smoke" thats not too shabby.

[VTGreg]

hmmmm, there's a bunch of products out there for smoky flavor. the obvious one being Chipolte. its really a personal preference on what kind you like. then there's also "Liquid Smoke" thats not too shabby.

Liquid smoke works well for some smokiness. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce is great for adding some smokiness and some spice and gives it a great deep red color.