Tangy Barbeque Sauce

Last fall, we bought a "hamburger" cow to fill our freezer with. I figured that we could always use hamburger. While that part of the figuring was right, figuring out what to do with it has been uninspired.

Figures.

Beef. It's what's for dinner.

Last week, we had barbecued meatballs on the menu. I haven't bought barbecue sauce from the grocery store for some time. The ingredients are a little scary. And mostly unpronounceable. One word that I do recognize however is high-fructose corn syrup. Followed by corn syrup. I guess that just means it's regular. (?????)

Since my family really wanted barbecued meatballs, I decided to make my own sauce. The thought of going with a different meal altogether wasn't even considered. My children are like rabid dogs when there's beef on the menu. Have you ever tried to take a bone from a dog's mouth? Kids are even more frightening.

Especially the girls.

Here's my healthier recipe for barbecue sauce. It's more tangy that store-bought, but it could be altered by leaving out some of the lemon juice and adding more molasses. Something that I've recently learned from the new TV show, "Worst Cooks in America", is to taste, taste, taste.

Yes. I have that part down.

1 medium roasted red pepper, peeled and chopped fine

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tb. butter

2 Tb. apple cider vinegar (the good stuff)

3 Tb. fresh lemon juice (I used 4, it was a little too tangy!)

2 Tb. sucanat (or brown sugar)

1/8 t. cayenne pepper

1 cup organic ketchup (organic doesn't have corn syrup)

2 Tb. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 t. dry mustard powder

1/2 t. sea salt

1 cup water

2 Tb. molasses (not blackstrap)

2 Tb. bacon fat (trust me, this is important for flavor)

Roast red pepper in oven until skin starts to turn black. Let cool. Peel pepper and chop into very small pieces. Set aside. Saute onions in butter until opaque. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. In a medium size saucepan, mix all ingredients together. On medium-high heat, bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Paint barbecue sauce onto uncooked meatballs. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes. Turn meatballs over, apply more barbecue sauce and return to oven for approximately 15 minutes more. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the meatballs.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so this is a picture of my plate before I dug in!
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