Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Tomato what??? Part 2

After the enchilada project I still had 4 cups left of tomato paste. I was tired and so done smelling tomato products and washing utensils with orange stains but still, I just couldn't bring myself to waste it and I knew that if I didn't do something that night it just wouldn't get done. I have a chronic pain condition so these kitchen extravaganzas of mine usually take me a few days to recover from so it was a Now or Never sorta thing!
I decided to try BBQ sauce. I was not using a recipe because none of the recipes I found called for 4 cups of tomato paste. I just made it up as I went and tasted it along the way. I gathered the ingredients that I thought would go well in BBQ sauce. I used Farmer Boy's homegrown jalapenos, onion, garlic, dehydrated bell pepper, dehydrated celery leaf, sugar, ginger, a pinch of cinnamon, apple cider vinegar and dry mustard.
My sous chef dumped the ingredients into my handy dandy Bosch Blender and gave it a whirl. **Notice the pan of encharitos under his arm made with my fab enchilada sauce**

We poured into a big stock pot and mixed it with the tomato paste and a blender full of water. It was very thick and tomatoey so I added more water and simmered. Still very NOT BBQ tasting. I added some liquid smoke and more water. Then I found a can of peach nectar in the cabinet and added that. It was starting to taste better. It isn't your KC Masterpiece or Kraft BBQ sauce, I would say it is more in line with the real stuff you get with authentic Texas BBQ.
After adding and simmering and adding and simmering I decided I just had to get some sleep. I dumped the whole batch in the crock pot and put it on low. It was Saturday night and we had church in the morning so I would let it slow cook until after church.


It mellowed and became more flavorful after slow cooking. I canned it in 12oz jars. Because of the high acid and vinegar used I just did a boiling water bath (BWB). We used it on the broilers I raised this spring. It was mighty good. Would it be too cliche to say it was Finger Lickin' Good?

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Backwoods Home

Backwoods Home Magazine - practical ideas for self-reliant living

BBQ

BBQ
a glimpse of things to come