Barbecue Sauce #2

(click image for the bigger picture)

Guiding principals: tangy, sweet, spicy, smokey, complex. Great on everything, but made for the ribs.

Ingredients:
(2) 46 oz cans tomato juice (only salt added)
1-1/2 cup white vinegar
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp sweet hungarian paprika or better yet, smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground chipoltle pepper
2 tsp salt
2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped
12 cloves garlic, smashed
1 Tbs liquid smoke (see note below)
1-1/2 cups honey
and maybe 1 tablespoon Tabasco Hot sauce (the original red only)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients, except for honey and Tabasco in a large pot.
2. Simmer for hours and hours until very thick, stirring occasionally, more so as it thickens.
3. Add honey and simmer another 30 minutes, stirring more frequently to prevent burning.
4. Remove bay leaves.
5. Taste and add Tobasco Hot sauce if you see fit.
6. Transfer to a blender and puree well.

Yields about 3 pints

Notes:
An equivalent amount of fresh tomatoes can be substituted if you cannot find tomato juice you trust.
You’ll want to core them and remove the skin.
The initial simmering will take 6-8 hours.
Halving the recipe will halve your simmer time.

Regarding liquid smoke: I use Wright’s Hickory or Mesquite Liquid Smoke. The labels list no illegal ingredients. I emailed the company to be sure and they confirmed the legality. Find the exchange below.

My inquiry:

I am on an extremely strict diet that does not allow me to have any forms
of refined sugars, gums or starches.

Do either your hickory or mesquite liquid smoke products contain any forms
or refined sugar, gum or starch?

Thank your for your help.

Sincerely,
Paul Stocker

Their reply:

Dear Mr. Stocker,

Wright’s Liquid Smoke is a natural product that gives foods a charcoal broiled taste.

It is made from hickory wood that is burned in an enclosed unit.
As the smoke rises it is captured in a condenser, allowing the smoke to cool.
The cooled smoke forms water droplets (condensation).
The condensation droplets are collected in a pan, filtered and placed in 55 gallon drums.  The drums are taken to the production filling location where it is filtered for a second time and transferred to the filling line.
The bottles are filled, capped and labeled.  They are then placed into shipping cases ready for distribution.

It contains no salt, carbohydrates, sugars, gum, starches, food additives, colorings or carcinogens. It is designated “natural” by the FDA.

—

Some other liquid smoke brands do contain illegals so read carefully.

In the interest of full disclosure it should be noted that the gold standard for investigating a processed food as set forth by Elaine Gottschall is to get a physical letter from the company on official letterhead with a person’s title and signature. By this measure, my investigation fails as I conducted it by email. Given this specific product and that most communication now takes place electronically, I am personally comfortable with the validity of the email exchange. You will have to decide for yourself where your comfort lies.

If you want to omit the liquid smoke, but keep the smoke flavor, two options come to mind:

• Increase the smoked paprika
• Smoke some onions or other vegetable on your grill and use them in the sauce (Thanks to Marilyn on the BTVC-SCD group for this suggestion).

Video:
How to smash garlic.

For more of my videos, including higher quality versions, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD