I use this sauce on several recipes, so rather than duplicating it all over the place, here it is. The thing with this sauce is that it’s fun to experiment with extra flavours, but there are certain things that are essential.
Essential Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 400g can plum tomatoes
- 1 tblsp of tomato puree
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 50g brown sugar
- 2 tblsp black treacle (or 3 tblsp of honey)
- 4 tblsp malt (or cider) vinegar
- 2 tblsp worcester sauce
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 small glass red wine
- 1 tsp of hickory smoke powder, or 2 tblsp of liquid smoke
- Something meaty – marmite, or a bit of concentrated beef stock
Any or all of these are going to turn your good sauce, into a great sauce…
Optional Ingredients
- Smoked garlic rather than regular
- 1 red chilli (or 1 tsp of cayenne pepper)
- An inch of grated ginger
- A tsp or two of mustard
- Plenty of fresh herbs (thyme or lemon thyme, possibly coriander)
- 2 tblsp mushroom sauce (bit like worcester sauce)
- Orange zest (and some juice)
- Black or red cherries (pitted)
- Ground fennel seeds
- Double JD or other bourbon, or a good dark rum
Method
- Slow fry the onion for 5-10 minutes until clear
- Add the garlic for the last minute or two
- Chuck in the tomatos, mush them is not chopped
- Throw in everything else (except bourbon), cover and simmer for half an hour (at least, ideally an hour), stirring occasionally
- Taste and top with flavour as desired
- Bubble with the lid off to reduce the liquid
- Blitz with a processor
- Add the bourbon/rum just before serving so as to not lose the flavour
Easy with...
Add a lump of beef brisket to a slow cooker, surround with the above and cook for 6 hours
Other ideas...
- Epic Hunter’s Chicken
- Sticky BBQ Ribs
