So, some of you who know me personally know about my allergy to tomatoes. Say what? Yep, allergic, they make me hivey and rashy and it’s just no fun. And yes, you have seen me post pics of ones I’ve grown. I still like to grow em, I just give them to friends or family when visiting. Tomatoes are also a really tough thing to avoid in the world of food. It’s in so many of our foods, a standard on sandwiches, and of course it sneaks into all sorts of things in spice mixes and seasonings and it just feels endless when it comes to trying to avoid it altogether. It even shows up as lycopene here and there. For instance, I’ve found it in oatmeal and cereal. No, not kidding. I have to read every label of everything I buy. Which brings me to blogBQ. I’ve been messing around with all sorts of red pepper sauces since last summer, and this last weekend I decided I should try and make some sort of bbq sauce. I tried it today and…Success!
Homemade naan bread, spicy red pepper bbq chicken (no tomato!) and a few cool cuke slices from the farmers market! All atop a cozy fireplace vintage tea towel appropriate for this cool weather blast.
Now for the fun part, I’ll try and give you a recipe. I’m known for whipping things up in the kitchen and then when someone asks for a recipe I grimace a little and say well, I can tell you what I put in it but I don’t know what the measurements are. I’m really trying to keep track a little better. My mom actually has a little cookbook that she writes my “recipes” down in. We are trying to keep better track for my someday cookbook. Sometimes I have to call her and have her remind me of what I put in something.
Red Pepper sauce-
3-4 red peppers
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
small bunch thai basil (or regular)
1/4 cup olive oil
*Chop and blend all ingredients in the blender/food processor.
*Cook in crockpot for a few hours, until is is deep red and starting to cook down
I cooled and waited a day until I could run to the store for the rest of the ingredients I thought I needed. I also usually add more basil and parmesan cheese to the mix. Then you can use it on pasta or as a pizza sauce etc. Freezes great too!
Spicy Red Pepper BBQ Sauce-
2 cups red pepper sauce
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp ground chipotle pepper
*Blend together, put in chicken or pork, cook in crockpot until meat falls apart, shred with fork. Done! Delicious. Magical. Forget you tomatoes! And I’m thinking for my meatless moods and meat free friends, bbq tofu sounds pretty tasty too! What do ya think?
