Deanna's Daughter

As adapted from Ron Shewchuk’s ‘Barbecue Secrets’ cookbook, I’ve never made this – it’s Brock’s thing, just like most of the barbecuing.  It really is heavenly though, especially when accompanied by Brock’s barbecued pulled pork (10 hours on the BBQ), or the ribs we had yesterday (6 hours on the BBQ).  I can see never buying barbecue sauce again….

Ron’s Rich and Deeply Satisfying BBQ Sauce

1 T. ancho chili pepper (or powder)

1 1/2 t. freshly ground pepper

1 1/2 t. dry mustard

1/2 t. ground coriander

1/2 t. allspice

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/8 t. ground cloves

1/2 t. cayenne (or to taste)

2 T. canola oil

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar

1/2 c. vinegar

1/4 c. liquid honey

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 c. ketchup

1/2 c. Jack Daniel’s (or apple juice)

Mix all of the spices together and set aside and then heat a medium saucepan and saute the onion and garlic in a bit of oil for a few minutes until softened.  Add all of the spices and cook while stirring for a couple of  minutes until all is well blended.

Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer gently for about a half hour.  Stir often and be careful because it splatters.

If you want a smooth sauce, put it through the blender once it cools, but we like it as is.  The recipe also mentions that you can thin it down a bit if you’d like to use it as a glaze or a baste.  Enjoy licking your fingers!

Flashback #9 – The library was and still is a regular hang-out for us because the girls LOVE their books.  One favorite, when they were about 2 1/2 was a book called, ‘Go Away, Big, Green Monster’ and I think that the idea was to get kids to tell the different monster bits to ‘go away’, and then as he lost his hair, his spots etc. he wasn’t very scary looking anymore.  So, one morning around this time, it was once again time for the girl’s vitamins – not their favorite, but there was usually minimal fuss especially if they had a glass of juice waiting for them – and I asked Waverly (who was hiding) to come and please eat her vitamin.  ‘Go away Big Green Monster!!’, she hollered from the other room.  I laughed so hard, we skipped the vitamins that day.

I have to say that this is an idea more than an actual recipe, but it was shockingly tasty and I found myself thinking it could be used as a sauce for almost anything, or made a little thicker and used as an appetizer dip, or made just for steamed vegetables instead of the traditional cheddar cheese sauce – the list goes on.  I borrowed this directly from the Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe site and you can easily make as much or as little as you need or make it as thin or as thick as you’d like.  I grilled some chicken breasts and made a big pot of steamed vegetables and then drizzled this over top – you don’t need very much at all.

Cream Cheese and Pesto Sauce

1/2 c. (or 1/2 a pkg.) of cream cheese

1/2 – 1 c. chicken broth

3-6 T. basil pesto (or your favorite, homemade or from a jar)

I cooked my chicken and then covered it up to keep it warm and then used the same skillet for the sauce.  All you do it melt the cheese – carefully – and then whisk in the broth and pesto to taste and to thickness.  It takes a bit of time for it to come together, but it does.

Drizzle it over whatever you’d like and enjoy!

I was craving something like this to go with the Yogurt Chicken so I combined a couple of recipes that I found on the internet.  Some call for half sour cream, half yogurt, I chose to stick with only yogurt and I was very happy with how it turned out.

Tzatziki Sauce

2 c. thick, full-fat plain yogurt

1 head of garlic, cleaned and finely minced

1 English cucumber, washed – half grated, half diced – all of it left to drain and dry on paper towels for about a half hour

1 T. olive oil

2 t. lemon juice

1/2 t. salt

Combine the oil and lemon juice in a medium bowl and then slowly fold in the yogurt, making sure that it mixes completely with the oil.

Add the garlic and the grated, dried cucumber.  Stir well and chill – the longer it’s chilled before serving the more intense the garlic will become.  I added the diced cucumber right before serving.