Apple BBQ sauce

“Honey, I’m afraid I’m having an affair. With this sauce.”

One of my favorite BBQ sauces that is truly from scratch. Most BBQ sauce recipes call for using a ketchup base, but I’ve always found that unsatisfying, almost like cheating by using something already so refined, and processed. This recipe pretty much uses all fresh ingredients, with the tomato sauce coming from blended tomatoes.

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 1.5 hrs

This recipe is intended to make  a lot of sauce, about a quart (32 oz). You can half it if you don’t need so much, though after you taste it you may wish you’d made more 🙂

Ingredients:

Apple, I learned the hard way, is a very subtle flavor especially when cooked, and easily overpowered by far bolder ingredients such as garlic, onion, and spices that are essential in a good tasting BBQ sauce. As such, this recipe calls for a lot of apples and apple cider is used instead of water for the liquid base.

7-8 cooking apples of your choice, peeled and cored

2 cups apple cider

1/4 cup olive oil

2 onions, peeled and quartered

1/2 a fresh jalapeño for kick (optional)

1/4 cup Sriracha (optional)

1 head of garlic, peeled

1 tb fresh chopped ginger

3 cups fresh chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp garlic powder

a pinch of ground clove (be very sparing as clove can be overpowering)

Using a food processor, chop the apples and set aside. Process also the onions and jalapeño together. Process the garlic and ginger together and set aside. Puree the tomatoes in a blender (I use a magic bullet) and set aside.

In a large 6 or 8 quart pot, add olive oil and onion/jalapeño mix and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic/ginger and cook for another minute. Add the processed apples and sauté for another3-4 min. Add the pureed tomato and simmer for 7-10 min until the tomato darkens. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and then simmer on low heat for 1 hr, stirring often.

It is here that one must diligently taste the sauce and adjust as necessary. Not salty enough? Add more soy/worcestershire. Needs more kick? Some more fresh jalapeño might do the trick, or an extra squeeze of Sriracha. Too runny? Cook for a bit longer. Trust your nose and palate!

The sauce should simmer until it darkens and begins to thicken. Towards the end, I use a hand blender and puree the whole thing further, and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Once it’s complete, you can use it immediately or better yet let it sit for a few days. It will keep for at least a week in the fridge, or can and process it in boiling water and store for several months.

The onions and jalapeño sweat

Ginger and garlic, welcome aboard

Fresh tomato puree

A nifty tool for smoothing everything out. If you don’t have one, just finely process everything up front and this won’t be necessary. Or keep chunky for a hearty BBQ sauce.

Use to dress apple-smoked lamb or brisket

Homemade Fig Jam

Toasted ciabatta with cream cheese and homemade green and black fig jam. On the left is a cracker with brie variation.

It’s fig season, so let’s get to it. This was actually my first time canning, and I am happy to report it turned out great. It’s very straightforward and provides the satisfaction of you having preserved freshness yourself, without much of the added junk.

Ingredients:

2 lbs black or green figs

3/4 cup sugar per pound of figs

1 tb fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tb pectin

The ingredients await their culinary matrimony

1) Buy figs

I found the most affordable place to buy figs in quantity was Trader Joe’s. They sold for $4/lb and I made about 2 lbs for my first attempt. Each pound of figs makes about 16 oz of jam. That’s four, 4 oz. jars or two 8 oz. jars.  I actually had bought 4 lbs, but let’s just say when you make fig jam buy an extra pound or two to account for direct collateral consumption.

2) Wash and clean, and cut the stems off

This being my first time, I played around with several different variables. A) Green vs. black figs. B) Adding pectin vs. no pectin. C) Peeling vs. not peeling the figs before hand. Here are my conclusions on these issues:

A) Both green and black figs make delicious jam. However, I found the black jam a bit tastier and slightly more aesthetic. However, the combination of green and black jam together was perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing of all. Also, it may have just been secondary to the ripeness of the particular batch I bought, but the green figs seemed more firm and actually required no pectin to reach a thick, spreadable consistency.

B) Pectin. You may be wondering, what is pectin? The short of it is that pectin is a natural compound found in the cell walls of many plants. Normally it is extracted from apples or citrus fruit and is used as a gelling agent. It comes from the Greek word meaning “congealed” or “curdled” and is required for some (not all) fruits to make jelly. Many fruits have high enough levels of pectin that they do not need any added. Link to the Wikipedia article on pectin here.

As I mentioned, the green figs reduced to a thickness that was sufficient to be spreadable and hold itself together without any pectin. The black figs were a bit more runny, and after some time on the stove I added some pectin which did the trick, turning them into just the most wonderful jelly.

Pectin can be found in most grocery stores

C) Peeling. Peeling figs is a pain in the neck. But I figured I’d answer the question once and for all for myself instead of wondering every time I make this whether peeling makes  a big difference. First, how do you peel figs? It’s hard because once you peel a little layer they get very slippery. I blanched them for abut 8 minutes in boiling water first to soften the skin and then peeled them under cold water. It was still hard. Ultimately, the peeled figs became gooier faster, as the skin did not hold them together. It became a jam more quickly, you can say. The figs I simply quartered, without peeling held themselves and reminded me more of preserves, with visible chunks of fruit. I was going for a jam, so the remedy to the skin issue is simply to finely chop the figs. Far more efficient than peeling.

Green figs, black figs. In the top left corner is the bowl with the peeled figs

3) Dice figs

The figs are given a quick dice with a chef’s knife

4) Cook. In a saucepan, combine figs, sugar, lemon juice. Simmer for 20-30 until it begins to thicken. Add pectin slowly, stirring vigorously so as to not cause clumping.

The black figs took on a deep purple-red as they thickened and sweetened. The aroma was delightful.

5) Can it! Canning is a bit of a science unto itself, and there are many great resources on how to can. Ball brand seems to have a bit of a monopoly on the canning market, but they have some good resources nonetheless. I find it rather annoying though how they push every item they make as being essential. Ball Brand jars! lids! Ball Brand plastic! Ball Brand jar labels!

The basic idea is to heat the cans to kill bacteria while using special lids so that as the cans cool, they seal and create a sterile container. Jellies, jams, and acidic foods can be properly “processed” just in boiling water. However, if you are canning meats, or certain alkaline veggies such as beets and carrots, you need to use a pressure canner to allow for higher temperatures and more bacteria-killing.

Ball canning website 

Far more comprehensive, the University of Georgia has a National Center for Home Canning, lot’s of excellent, validated articles and resources. Their website here.

4 oz jars, along with their lids, were boiled for 10 min and were left in hot water until ready for filling. This way, the hot filling would not break the glass.

1/4″ headspace is left to allow for expansion during processing.

The rims are wiped clean, the lids applied, and the jars are returned to boiling water for 15 mins. They are then removed and taken out on a cooling rack. Leave undisturbed for several hours and test the lids by pressing in the center. There should be a vacuum. If the lids flop up and down it did not properly seal! So eat within a few days or return to the boiler.

The figs will keep for up to 1 year, stored in a cool, dark place. Once friends find out, however, they won’t last that long.

These little jars can be dressed, and make wonderful gifts for friends and loved ones.