Homemade BBQ Sauce

A few days ago, I did a dry-run of my 4th of July feast. Barbecued ribs with homemade sauce, skillet cornbread, sweet and spicy baked beans, coleslaw and green salad fresh from the garden. And God Bless America, it was goooooooood!

I'll do my best to post the recipe for each dish/component in the next week lest any of you want to use them for your own July 4th meals. Beginning with the barbecue sauce.

I've got a wicked sweet tooth and love the sweet, smokey flavor of barbecue sauce. I've also been fantasizing about making my own for years, ever since I clipped a recipe from a Martha Stewart sometime in the past decade. I'm happy to report that not only is it pretty easy to make your own sauce, somehow making it from scratch removes any trace of white trash-iness from this fine American sauce.

Best of all, the recipe makes a bunch and you can safely keep it in a jar in the fridge for several weeks, allowing you to slather all sorts of grill-ables with its delightful spicy, sweet flavors.

If you do not already have an immersion blender (also known as a wand or hand blender), I cannot recommend this little tool highly enough! And it will make this sauce even easier to make with far less clean up.

Happy grilling, everyone!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

* 1 small to medium onion, finely chopped

* 3 garlic cloves, minced

* 1 can (28-ounces) crushed tomatoes

* 1 canned chipotle chile, packed in adobo sauce, minced (or a pinch of red pepper flakes if you don't have a chipotle handy)

* 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

* 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

* 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

* Juice of 1/2 lemon

* Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in tomatoes, chile, Worcestershire, vinegar, molasses, and lemon juice. Simmer over medium-low heat until reduced by a third, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

3. Allow to cool slightly, then purée using an immersion blender (if you don't have one, you can purée the sauce in a blender, working with batches. Season with salt and black pepper. Refrigerate in a jar with tight-fitting lid for up to 2 weeks.

You might also like:

• Smoky-Spicy-Sweet Barbecue Baked Beans (vegetarian, no less!)
• Tomato Jam - delicious with kabobs and grilled lamb
• Chimichurri Sauce - amazing on grilled beef and fish
• Lemon Aioli - amazing on anything...

P.S. If you're in a rush and don't have time to whip up a batch of your own barbecue sauce, you might want to check out Saveur's latest roundup of their favorite bottled barbecue sauces.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

A few days ago, I did a dry-run of my 4th of July feast. Barbecued ribs with homemade sauce, skillet cornbread, sweet and spicy baked beans, coleslaw and green salad fresh from the garden. And God Bless America, it was goooooooood!

I'll do my best to post the recipe for each dish/component in the next week lest any of you want to use them for your own July 4th meals. Beginning with the barbecue sauce.

I've got a wicked sweet tooth and love the sweet, smokey flavor of barbecue sauce. I've also been fantasizing about making my own for years, ever since I clipped a recipe from a Martha Stewart sometime in the past decade. I'm happy to report that not only is it pretty easy to make your own sauce, somehow making it from scratch removes any trace of white trash-iness from this fine American sauce.

Best of all, the recipe makes a bunch and you can safely keep it in a jar in the fridge for several weeks, allowing you to slather all sorts of grill-ables with its delightful spicy, sweet flavors.

If you do not already have an immersion blender (also known as a wand or hand blender), I cannot recommend this little tool highly enough! And it will make this sauce even easier to make with far less clean up.

Happy grilling, everyone!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

* 1 small to medium onion, finely chopped

* 3 garlic cloves, minced

* 1 can (28-ounces) crushed tomatoes

* 1 canned chipotle chile, packed in adobo sauce, minced (or a pinch of red pepper flakes if you don't have a chipotle handy)

* 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

* 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

* 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

* Juice of 1/2 lemon

* Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in tomatoes, chile, Worcestershire, vinegar, molasses, and lemon juice. Simmer over medium-low heat until reduced by a third, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes.

3. Allow to cool slightly, then purée using an immersion blender (if you don't have one, you can purée the sauce in a blender, working with batches. Season with salt and black pepper. Refrigerate in a jar with tight-fitting lid for up to 2 weeks.

You might also like:

• Smoky-Spicy-Sweet Barbecue Baked Beans (vegetarian, no less!)
• Tomato Jam - delicious with kabobs and grilled lamb
• Chimichurri Sauce - amazing on grilled beef and fish
• Lemon Aioli - amazing on anything...

P.S. If you're in a rush and don't have time to whip up a batch of your own barbecue sauce, you might want to check out Saveur's latest roundup of their favorite bottled barbecue sauces.