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So last week, Sara announced that in a few weeks, we’ll be jet-setting off to the Better Homes and Gardens headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa and competing in a cook-off against 4 other bloggers. Um, yeah, we’re just a little bit excited! Part of the fun is that we get to be part of launching their new cookware line. We’ve got lots of time to get into the Ps, Qs, and (shhhh) giveaways, but we got the chance to preview one of the cookware lines of our choice. And I chose this:
Isn’t my kitchen awesome? Just kidding–I’m pretty sure that’s the Better Homes and Gardens test kitchen; my kitchen has noticeably less natural light and noticeably more half-full sippy cups of milk.
Like I said, we’ll talk more about the cookware itself in the weeks to come, but suffice it to say that I am completely in love with this non-stick hard-anodized cookware line, both in appearance and in performance. Love. Like…I can’t put them away because I don’t feel like my cupboards are good enough for them.
Next Friday, we’re going to finish revealing (wow, that sounds so dramatic) the recipe were going to be competing with, but last week, Sara gave you a hint with her Shoestring Onion tutorial and this week, I’m sharing a slightly tweaked recipe from the New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Next week, we’ll put it all together and I’m not kidding when I tell you that my husband was over-the-moon happy for a good week after I tested these out on my family.
I’ve been on the search for the perfect barbecue sauce for…well, forever. We’ve got the sauce that goes on the Old-Fashioned Barbecue Chicken Legs and it is totally swoonworthy, but it’s really at its best on food cooked over a flame; it’s just not as awesome for dipping, last-minute basting, slow cooking, etc. Part of the cook-off challenge is to integrate at least one of the BHG recipes into our menu, so when I tried out and loved this barbecue sauce recipe, everything else came together like a dream. A good dream, not like that dream I had once where an alligator and I had to wave at each other to avoid me being eaten by said alligator.
This sauce is super versatile–it has a great base and there are a few variations you can try to mix things up a little. My favorite is the spiced variation–it tastes a lot like the sauce from my all-time favorite hole-in-the-wall barbecue joint and THAT is never a bad thing.
It’s kind of a mish-mash of barbecue awesomeness–tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, brown sugar, molasses, horseradish, apple juice, onions, garlic, yada, yada, yada…
Then you saute the onion and garlic, add the remaining ingredients, and simmer until you reach the desired consistency and your house smells amazing.
Remove from heat and brush it on grilled chicken, dip your chicken fingers in it, use it for barbecue beef or BBQ Pork Sandwiches
or brushed on Fauxtisserie Chicken:
Kansas City Barbecue Sauce
Recipe adapted from the New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. apple juice
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1/4 c. vinegar
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent. Add the remaining ingredients except horseradish and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Turn heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Add the horseradish and serve as desired.
Spiced Variation: Add a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of cloves, and a pinch of cayenne pepper with the paprika.
Smoky Variation: Substitute 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika for the paprika.
Made it tonight (actually, my 11-year-old son made it!)…thumbs up from three generations! DELISH! Still have a jarful left, too. Mmmm, the possibilities! 🙂
This sauce looks great, but I really need to make a confession. I covet that blue plate on which the BBQ Pork Sandwiches are sitting. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest.
As per the typo with the 1 cup vinegar–I thought that maybe you were catering to the eastern North Carolina crowd.
can't wait to try this! but I would love to see a recipe for a good honey mustard bbq sauce =)
Thanks for posting! I've been wanting to start making my own BBQ sauce to get away from the High Fructose Corn Syrup in the store. I shared a link on my Favorite Feeds Friday feature!
Seriously, Lindsay, she's so weird. Carly, if you're reading this, you're weird. Also, you're really not gonna like our entry in the cookoff, haha! 🙂 (That wasn't a mocking laugh, just the realization that it contains a lot of foods on your bad list).
Are you kidding me Lindsay?? That girl is nuts! Her "do not like" list is almost identical to my "foods I cannot live without" list, lol.
I was just thinking the other day that I wish I knew of a really good BBQ sauce recipe. I love BBQ sauce (and so does my family) but definitely not any of the kinds at the grocery store. I'm excited to try this. Thanks!
Oh, and Kate, you should give my sister Carly a hard time about having BBQ sauce on her "Do Not Like" list–she's missing out!
I'm SO excited to try this recipe. I've been looking for a BBQ sauce recipe that didn't have ketchup as it's base, because that just seems like cheating. 🙂
Melissa–Eeeek, yep!!! Thank you so much for catching that! It should be (and is now, thanks to you 🙂 ) 1/4 c. Thanks again! 🙂
This looks yummy! Just one question though, the recipe says 1/c vinegar. Is that correct? I'm guessing that the second half of the fraction was left off b/c 1 cup of vinegar seems like a lot!