Basic Barbecue Sauce

Gretl

Here's the basic recipe my family loves for barbecue sauce. I finally wrote down the ingredients after years of tossing in "a little this, a little that" without measuring. This is my basic sauce; obviously, you can add more garlic; add habaneros, pepper flakes, or whatever. Your mojo, for instance. Have fun![p]Basic Barbecue Sauce [p]3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 big onion, finely chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 29-oz can tomato sauce
5 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 C cider vinegar
1/4 C bourbon
1/4 C maple syrup
1/4 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 teasp dried oregano, crushed
1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce (or any hot sauce)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 teasp freshly ground black pepper[p]Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan. When the surface ripples, add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring, until the onion’s transparent. Add the remaining ingredients, bring sauce to a boil, stirring, and reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce coats a spoon and is rich and flavorful. Remove cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf before serving.[p]Yield: about a quart

Char-Woody

Gretl, and my fresh tub (mix of Big Girl and Roma) tomato's are accumulating for a good sauce. I had intended to do a Pizza Sauce, but I think I will go for this one for the first batch. Printing as I type..
Thanks for the recipe..post it in the archives or I will be mad as heck if I have to hunt the old forum archives later on. ;-) Well, mildly so anyway..:-)
C~W[p]

Unknown

Gretl, btw...you have 3 chopped or crushed cloves and then 5 whole cloves..I was confused on that one and when reading recipes,,a clove is a single part of the whole clump or how do you distinquish the difference?
C~W[p]

Gretl

C~W,
When you buy fresh garlic, it is sold in whole "bulbs." The bulb separates into teardrop shaped sections called "cloves." My friend Rose refers to these as "toes" which I like. I probably should have said, "3 toes garlic, chopped fine." Does this help?[p]The 5 cloves listed below refer the spice "cloves", unrelated to garlic toes. Whole cloves look like little brown nails and are much less violent in a recipe than are ground cloves, which pack a nasty punch of flavor that can take over like a dictator in a small county. Which, of course, is undesirable, both in sauces and politics.[p]Am I making any sense at all? [p]Cheers,
G.

Char-Woody

Gretl, beautifully said...thanks a "bulb"..I mean a bunch!! C~W