My mom lives in a neighborhood has an excellent view of the Blue Angels, so I invited some friends over. I decided to do my version of a barbecued tofu sandwich that I'd had years ago when I was in graduate school.
I love barbecue sauce. It's sweet, tart, spicy, savory, smoky... whatever you want it to be. Furthermore, it goes great on everything except maybe ice cream. While I certainly could buy pre-made, it's so easy to make that I decided to do it myself. The basic ratio for barbecue sauce is one part cider vinegar, one part ketchup, and about one half a part of sweetener. You can then season it however you want.
I started with a small Walla Walla onion from the farmer's market, which I sauteed in a tablespoon or two of canola oil. I use canola oil rather than olive because it is more neutral-flavored. While the onion was sauteing, I added some cloves of garlic and a shallot. (You don't need to chop these too finely; you'll be putting this in the blender.)
Once they have started to caramelize, add a cup of ketchup and a cup of cider vinegar. Sprinkle in some brown sugar and a good dose of molasses. I'd imagine that I used about an eighth a cup of brown sugar and 3/8ths a cup of molasses. I let it simmer for awhile, then added 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke, some salt, pepper, and cayenne. Give it a taste. If it's too sweet, add more vinegar. If it's too vinegary, add molasses or brown sugar. If you want some more heat, put in some Tabasco. If you want some fun, add some blackstrap rum.
Take the mixture off of the heat and set it aside for a little while to cool, then whir it in the blender until it's smooth. (If you have an immersion blender, you don't need to let it cool as much.)
That's it! Tomorrow, I'll tell you about how I tweaked the sauce and put together the sandwich... there will be a great recipe for vegan cole slaw.
No comments:
Post a Comment