And dear friend needed to get away to somewhere and so, after caution and testing, she drove out to spend Thanksgiving week with us.
Unlike with past visits, there were no trips downtown, no extended shopping at galleries or the mall, and the botanic garden had totally sold out their holiday lights thing-y at least a month in advance.
So, I planned an activity that would be educational (for her) and provide her with
much desired holidaze gifts for her nieces and their partners:
The recipe and process to make my barbecue sauce, which, I have to say, is so tasty and popular that some friends have taken to hiding their stash, lest parents and children walk off with a jar or three.
INGREDIENTS
•2 (50.5 oz) jars ketchup
•1 bottle 78 ketchup (2 cups)
•3 cups brown sugar
•2 cups cider vinegar
•3 tbsp Colman’s dry mustard
•4 tsp garlic powder
•4 tsp onion powder
•2 tsp dried shallots
•1-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
•1 tsp sea salt
•1 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/2 tsp paprika
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp curry powder
•1/2 tsp Cayenne
•1/2 tsp turmeric
•1/4 cup lemon juice
•1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
•2 tbsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1/4 cup Sherry Peppers Sauce*
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Note: this is the recipe for Zippy barbecue sauce. For Classic, replace the 78 Spicy Ketchup with regular ketchup, and cut back on the crushed red pepper.
Stir all of the ingredients together in a large (six+ quart) slow cooker, then cook on high for four to six hours, stirring often, there will be clumps along the sides.
You will know that the barbecue sauce is ready when it has reduced a bit, and the color has changed from bright ‘ketchup red’ to a rich, deep, brownish red.
Sterilize your clean canning jars, either in boiling water, or in your dishwasher on the ‘sanitize’ setting, or on a rack in a 200º oven for 20 minutes.
Note: my friend chose half-pint jars for hers, so she ended up with 22 full jars and one partial jar.
Ladle your sauce into the prepared jars, wiping the rims as needed, then place a lid on each jar, add a band and, using just your fingertips, tighten the band (in other words, not too tight!).
My friend, looking at my earlier barbecue sauce blog posts, questioned why there were no images of the jars in the canning pot, so, Jenny, here you go!
Arrange the jars in a large pot of boiling water and process for 15 minutes.
Note: if you have hard water, add a cup or so of white vinegar to the water to prevent Cloudy Canning Jars.
Once processed, remove the jars from the water and let rest on a rack. You should hear a “POP” from each jar, which is just the canning seal.
After letting the jars rest on the rack for 30 minutes or so, press your finger into the center of each lid. If the lid does not move, your jar is sealed. If the lid clicks, but stays down, your jar is sealed. If the lid clicks, but pops up again, your jar has not sealed. Either reprocess, or store in the fridge.