Prelude and Coda

So I made BBQ last week for a church gathering and rather than going the normal route and buying my favorite BBQ sauce, Stubbs, I decided to try my hand and making a sauce. I don’t know what my inspiration was other than having half a bottle of apple juice I needed to use, but something clicked and the result was a smoky, spicy, tomato based sauce that everyone seemed to like. It was a two step process, and here are the details:
Ingredients:
Apple Juice
Cider vinegar
1 Onion roughly chopped
1 cazcabel pepper seeded and cut up
peppercorns
2 cloves of garlic crushed or sliced
molasses
honey
1 sm can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 sm cans of tomato sauce
salt
garlic powder
Onion powder
Fresh ground pepper
2 sauce pans

Recipe:
in 1 sauce pan place 32oz of apple juice, the onion, the garlic, the cazcabel pepper, and a tablespoon of peppercorns.

bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer.

as the pan is simmering add the cider vinegar (I didn’t measure, I just poured what seemed right. best guess 2 tbsp to a 1/4 cup)

Then a little molasses (again, just drizzled a few tablespoons in)

Let simmer while taking the 2nd pot and adding the 3 cans of tomato sauce, the can of chipotle and the dry spices.

blend this mixture together – i used a stick blender in the pan,but this could be done in a blender-

When well blended, strain the apple juice mixture into a container and ladle in the mixture until the consistency and flavor is what you like (for me it was 2 small ladles full)

taste the sauce and add honey to cut through some of the heat.

when you have reached a flavor you like heat the mixture to help marry the flavors

That was it. It was quick and easy, but most of all it was a hit. As is my custom, I did everything to taste, no real measurements, but as I make it again, I’ll try and pinpoint measurements and make a note here.