Best BBQ Sauce

Timing is everything… and I am a little late with this post! I meant to write it at the start of the summer to share Mr M’s most amazing BBQ sauce with the world. That said, it hasn’t been the most BBQ friendly of summers anyway, but we had this sauce on Saturday night and it adds a lovely autumnal warmth to many suppers.

The crucial ingredient is pretty hard to get hold of. We came upon it by chance at a food event organised by The Source (see post here). The Chilli Jam Man sells all things chilli related and supplies us with dried, smoked chipotle chillies. The taste really is delicious; smoky, rounded, warm and has a natural depth to it that you just don’t achieve with manufactured BBQ sauces. So, find him if you can! Or have a look at his website.

Here is Mr M’s magic BBQ sauce recipe:

1tbs cumin seeds – toasted and ground
1tbs coriander seeds – toasted and ground
1 bottle tomato ketchup
squeeze of tomato puree
1 bottle maple syrup
3 or 4 reconstituted chipotle chillies
6 cloves of garlic
A thumb-size piece of ginger
3tbs orange juice
15mls balsamic vinegar
15mls oyster sauce
Leaves from 1 sprig of rosemary
Squeeze of lemon

Blend until smooth!

You can adjust the heat by adding chilli powder if you like it with a bit of a kick. This recipe makes a boatload of sauce so you can freeze batches of it for later use.

We made BBQ ribs on Saturday. So delicious! And really easy to make:
Cook the ribs in a pressure cooker for 40 mins with a little water, lemon and thyme. Then cover in BBQ sauce and grill for a few minues each side. Then (and this is the real trick) apply more sauce and grill again. Two coats is the charm.

Enjoy!