quinn's place

FEELS!: i feel that i haven't been wanting to cook and shoot recipes all summer because when the sun is out in this town, why da hell would i be in the kitchen?? though i would looove to just play around with food all the time, there are always more pressing things that need to happen during the summertime before we head into our winter hibernation mode. pressing items like swimming, camping, hanging out... 😉

my computer has been super weeeeird lately and i've had to update a lot of things. anyhoo, with my computer cooperating with me once again and summer fun times & house projects slowly winding down, i've found a bit more inspiration to get back to coming up with my own recipes. yay!

it's my durn-good homemade barbecue sauce recipe!

i'm the type who doesn't normally choose bbq sauce as my dipping option, and i usually am not attracted to sandwiches with barbecue sauce. i just don't really care about barbecue sauce i guess. unless i'm at a legit bbq joint and they have 8 options to choose from. then i care deeply and have to try them all.

i make my own because i like a good balance of savory + spicy + sweet + tangy. some barbecue sauces are just SWEET, bleh. some are thick and ultra savory. and the ones i avoid at all cost - smoky or chipotle flavored ones. heeeck nahhhh mannng. quinn + chipotle flavors = nope.

so yeah, here's what i do to achieve a tangy, savory, sorta sweet, and nice & spicy barbecue sauce.

i felt i couldn't just make barbecue sauce and take photos of it sitting in a jar or cup, so i made some delicious sliders to pair it with.

for the sliders: hawaiian sweet rolls or whatever slider buns you prefer (ALWAYS toasted or crisped up in a pan with olive oil - crisping up your roll makes up like 75% of the slider's quality rating in my book), pulled pork (pete and i use this method for our pulled pork - crockpot + pork shoulder + thick-chopped yellow onions + one can beer + one can green salsa), sliced red onion, sriracha mayo (i just make this at home and keep a little jar handy for sandwiches, etc - about 1 cup of mayo + 3 TB sriracha, whisk whisk whisk), and thinly sliced red cabbage.

i toss the cabbage in a little bowl with a splash of white vinegar and black pepper, just to take the cabbagey edge off the raw cabbage (read: cabbage is stinky).

yum yum yum bout to gobble you up.

these photos got real messy real fast.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Makes 1 cup sauce

Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 TB unsalted butter
2 TB minced yellow onion (dried or fresh - make sure its very finely minced)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 TB mustard (I've used yellow or brown/dijon - both work fine)
2 TB Worcestershire sauce
2 TB Sriracha
1 TB fresh lemon juice
1 TB red wine vinegar
pinch of black pepper
pinch of garlic powder
splash of peperoncini juice (optional)
[also optional while melting the butter, 2 TB bacon grease - whoa mmhmm]

Instructions-

Finely mince a small amount of onion (fine enough so it is almost translucent - you want the onion to fully break down into the sauce after its finished simmering). I have also used dried minced onion and that works as well.

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add minced onion and whisk to completely coat in melted butter. Add brown sugar and whisk to create a thick base. Increase heat to medium.

Add the remaining ingredients into the pan, whisking as you go. Let it bubble and thicken on medium heat for a few minutes before simmering on medium-low heat for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in glass jar or airtight container.

Enjoy on sliders, with fries, on pizzas, chicken dishes, pork dishes, grilled vegetables, potatoes, etc, etc.

taaaaaaaco niiiiiiight.

pete and i first made this dinner when we were camping. we've made it at home several times since.

campin' tacos. who knew?

grilled corn. one of the summeriest of things.

hey, margs too.

because i said so.

this pile of golden goodness is awesome to have at the ready if you don't use it all right away.

handmade tortillas are the only way to go. i would actually like to make them by hand myself, but ya don't have to. i like to use

these ones

in yellow corn. they're the best!

so we just throw a browned pork shoulder in the crockpot overnight with a container of fresh green salsa or a couple of cans of green salsa. and one can of beeeeeeeer. we use

rainier

. duh.

after eight hours on low in the crockpot (or four hours on high), you can easily pull the pork apart. i think in this pic below, pete cooked the meat without the salsa in the crockpot, just beer. we like to put the pork into a cast iron skillet and let it brown up a bit before we eat it.