Lazy Bastard

Finally got around to making a barbecue sauce. It's laughable that three years have passed when I first wanted to make it. This was back when I was working at the Meadows golf course at the Grand Valley campus up in Allendale. I worked there with a good friend of mine, Nathan. We were equally pumped about pumpkin but never got around to incorporating it into a BBQ sauce.

Well today I had my hand at it. No pumpkin though. Sorry. I figured I'd start with the basics and throw in some Founders Dirty Bastard. For the most Part, this is the recipe I roughly followed:

1 large onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 (40 oz) bottle tomato ketchup
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/8 tsp. mesquite smoke (just a few drops - optional)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

More of the recipe HERE

My usual way of cooking involves no measurements whatsoever as well as other unlisted ingredients. I didn't have any apple cider, but I did have homemade applesauce...so I threw that in. No liquid smoke? well how about smoked paprika and some Chicago steak seasoning. Oh! And that bottle of Dirty Bastard!

This ended up being a pretty standard Louisiana style BBQ sauce. Thick, sweet, tangy, and just a little spice. The Dirty Dastard was barely detectable. I'm always worried about the bitterness that cooking with some beers can have. My motto is low and slow...especially with highly hopped or dark roasty beers. This beer is pretty malty so I wasn't too frightened by the possibility of off flavors.

When it comes to canning...I'm lazy. I just give the jars and lids a quick rinse under hot water and start filling them up. I also don't bother filling the whole pot with water. Just enough to bring the water halfway up the jars. The steam is the same temperature as the water. With the BBQ sauce, I just let it boil for 10 minutes and called it good. Again, not too worried. There is a pretty high acidity with all the ketchup and vinegar so there is a lot less risk for spoilage.

As always, there is always room for improvements. Next time I may use more beer and actually try to track down some liquid smoke. Or perhaps in the summer I'll have a go at smoking a bunch of tomatoes. That way I won't have to use ketchup...or liquid smoke.

Tofu. Forever lazy and a complete bastard.