Honey Barbecue Sauce

Oh, you were expecting me to make homemade barbecue sauce like three months ago so you could actually use the recipe in the summer?

Oh.

Sorry.

Forgive me?

This was one of the recipes on my kitchen to-do list for the summer.  It's based on Steph's barbecue sauce recipe at A Whisk and A Spoon.  Her picture makes me salivate.  I wanted mine to be a little sweeter, so I made a few changes and I'm very happy with the result.

What's extra cool about this recipe is that I got to test out some fun stuff that showed up at my doorstep.  You probably know how I feel about High Fructose Corn Syrup (ughhhh), so you probably know that I giggled like a school girl when I got this Organic Heinz Ketchup in the mail.  Organic?  No HFCS?  Tastes exactly the same?  Am I dreaming?  This is perfect for my homemade BBQ sauce, since basically all bottled BBQ sauces are full of HFCS.  But not this recipe.  HCFS-free, baby.

I also got a sweet package of honeys to sample from Royal Hawaiian Honey.  Raw honeys.  Amazing looking gourmet honeys.  (Check them out on Foodzie!)  These honeys have strong, well-rounded flavor and are excellent for baking and cooking (or slathering on toast/your finger).

Barbecue sauce is like the easiest thing in the world, and much healthier when it comes from your own kitchen instead of the shelf.  It would be even healthier if you started from raw tomatoes, but then it would no longer be the easiest thing in the world, so forget I said anything about that.

Use this sauce when you're grilling, as a dipping sauce.. you know, the same way you always use it.  My favorite application is Barbecue Chicken Pizza, I'm just sayin'.  Thank heavens for the chef who came up with that gem of an idea.  I would eat it every day.

Excuse me while I go warm up some pizza..

Honey Barbecue Sauce

(based on a recipe by A Whisk and A Spoon)

1 medium onion, quartered

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 cup ketchup

2 tbs apple cider vinegar

2 tbs Worchestershire sauce

2 tbs Dijon mustard

1/4 cup molasses

2 tbs honey

1 tbs vegetable oil

In the bowl of a food processor, add onion, garlic, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne.  Finely process.  If you like a smoother sauce, push the mixture through a mesh strainer.  If not, put the mixture into a saucepan and add all of the remaining ingredients.  Whisk well.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature.