As I was making my shopping list for our annual 4th of July camping trip to Yellow Pine, I thought about the traditional, iconic 4th of July meal – BBQ! Then I started thinking about the sugar and preservatives in the jarred and bottled BBQ sauce out there…. way to put a damper on the holiday! So, this is the perfect Test Kitchen Tuesday experiment – BBQ sauce!


I found some yummy organic peaches and decided that would be the flavor profile for my sauce. But first, let’s start with BACON! Using bacon fat to cook the onions and peaches gives the sauce a great smoky flavor. When shopping for bacon, make sure you buy nitrate-free bacon.Cook bacon in a frying pan over medium heat. Once the bacon is cooked, remove from the pan (leaving the bacon fat), drain, and chop. Try not to eat all of the bacon while the sauce cooks!

Add chopped onions to the pan and cook over medium heat until soft and translucent, about 3 – 4 minutes.

Add chopped peaches to the pan and continue to cook until they are softened and begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes.
Add remaning ingredients and simmer over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes.

**Note: We used organic blackstrap molasses as our sweetener for this sauce. There is some amazing information out there on this product. Check out this article for more info!

Remove from heat and transfer mixture to blender (Be careful!! It’s hot!!) If your blender doesn’t allow for steam to escape, use a towel to cover the blender. Once it’s blended to your preferred consistency, let cool slightly and transfer to air tight container. If the sauce is too thick, feel free to add water (one tablespoon at a time) to reach a desired thickness.

This will make about 2 1/2 cups of Peach BBQ sauce. I was anxious to try this right away, so ribs on the grill sounded just about perfect! As the ribs were cooking, I started brainstorming about what else would be delicious slathered in this sauce – pulled pork, grilled chicken, and grilled shrimp were just a few that came to mind! Be creative, this is a sweet, smoky, tangy sauce and the possibilities are endless! I served the Peach BBQ Ribs with a southwest quinoa salad loaded with pico de gallo, cilantro, sunflower seeds, red bell peppers, zucchini, and black beans.

Happy Independence day to you and your family!!!!

Cheers!

Dawn and Sarah

PEACH BBQ SAUCE
2 strips nitrate-free bacon
1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped
2 organic peaches, diced (ok to leave skin on!)
2 teaspoons chipotle paste
2 TBS blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup vinegar
1TBS tomato paste
Salt / Pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook bacon in frying pan over medium heat. Once cooked, remove from pan, leaving bacon fat. Drain on a paper towel and chop. Set aside.

Add chopped onions to bacon fat in pan and cook over medium heat until soft and translucent about 3-4 minutes. Add chopped peaches to pan and cook until soft and beginning to caramelize, about 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients (including reserved chopped bacon) and let simmer over medium heat about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and very carefully, transfer to a blender (make sure there is a way for steam to escape!). Blend until smooth. If it is too thick, add water, 1 TBS at a time until the sauce reaches desired consistency. Let cool slightly, then pour into an airtight container. Refrigerate and use within a couple of weeks.

Category: Recipes August 15, 2019

Author: developer

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