Sweet And Spicy Barbecue Sauce

Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Sauce

When you grow tomatoes, the end of the season always means harvesting, canning and preserving. A single tomato plant can produce 20 pounds of fruit, and this season mine did just that. Luckily, I grew plum (Roma-type) tomatoes, so making different sauces is a great way to use them up.

I came across a traditional barbecue sauce in a preserving cookbook. It was a Texas-style sauce that was heavy on the chili peppers. I prefer being able to taste the tomato in my barbecue, so after a few modifications I came up with a recipe that was, like Goldilocks' porridge, "just right." It has just enough heat to let you know it's barbecue, but not so much that hot pepper overshadows all of the other flavors.

There is one ingredient that causes much contention among a lot of people, and that is corn syrup. There are many people who believe that commercial barbecue sauce manufacturers add corn syrup to please Big Corn interests and to make us all fat. Not so - the corn syrup, molasses or honey that is added to barbecue sauce gives the sauce enough adhering ability that it sticks to the meat during cooking. It also allows the sugar in the sauce to caramelize, rather than burn. So please don't leave the syrup out!

You can freeze your sauce after it's made, or you can go the distance and can it. The recipe easily makes 3 full pints.

Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Sauce

24 Roma-type tomatoes, peeled and stemmed (4 quarts)
2 c. chopped onions, red or white
1 1/2 c. chopped red or green bell peppers, seeds removed
1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/4c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. dark corn syrup
2 tsp. ground mustard
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. kosher salt

Place peeled tomatoes in a large bowl, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Allow to sit at room temperature for several hours or overnight.

Dump tomatoes and liquid into a 3 or 4 quart saucepan. Add onions, peppers and herbs. Cover the saucepan and bring to a simmer; simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

Using a stick blender, pulverize all of the ingredients until they form a smooth liquid. Add the sugar, vinegar and corn syrup. Bring to a simmer again; allow to simmer with the lid slightly ajar for another 90 minutes. Stir infrequently during the first hour, but stir more frequently during the last 30 minutes to prevent sticking. The finished sauce should be the consistency of ketchup.

If you are canning the sauce, ladle your sauce into hot, prepared pint jars. Leave 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any trapped air bubbles, wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth and add lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.