My hometown of Windsor Ontario has a few food gems. One of my favorites is this BBQ sauce. It is a fine condiment for all things, not just BBQ. It is modeled after TBQ sauce: A sauce made by a famous BBQ place that is now closed. I believe the sauce can still be purchased in Windsor, but as I no longer live there I had to figure out a way to make it myself. My family makes a copycat version which I used to base my own version on.
FYI: It is different than the thick, dark burgundy sweet molasses-y tomato based sauces (which are also delicious.) Now you are probably going to be confused when you look at the ingredients. I know they are prepared ingredients, weird, but you have to trust me. It tastes SO good! I have tried recreating this sauce in many ways by making a more scratch, cooked version with canned tomatoes instead of ketchup ( and countless other ways) but this is the best and easiest way. If you are concerned about food additives look for an organic versions of prepared ingredients. The 365 whole foods brand is good and not expensive for ketchup and mustard. And yes, mustard has a place in BBQ sauces.(and a damn delicious one at that) If you don’t believe me take it up with South Carolina, and good luck!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups ketchup (yes, I know. Commercially prepared ketchup is somewhat vile. It does have a good use for for making bbq sauces and in some Chinese sauces)
1/2 cup american yellow mustard (Again, I know. Somewhat vile. Why bother with american mustard when there are so many flavorful ones to choose from! That is normally my philosophy and as such I’ve experimented with all kinds in this recipe: dijon, polish, grainy. They all work, and all taste good but honestly this works just fine, and it’s cheap. Choose whatever you like)
3/4 cup vinegar (apple cider or white)
1/2 cup sugar (White sugar is what this calls for but I often use coconut sugar to try and make it a bit “healthier”. Basically use whatever you are comfortable with or what you’ve got on hand.My cousin had white sugar so that’s what I used.)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp prepared chili powder (the one that has cumin and all that stuff in it)
1 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp creole/cajun seasoning, or another all purpose bbq seasoning that you like ( this will have a bit of heat on its own. Watch out for highly salt commercially prepared ones.)
1 tbsp of cayenne pepper- add less for mild or medium heat
Directions:
1) put everything in a lg mixing bowl and whisk together.
2) ideally let this sit for a week before using to get the proper taste. Sometimes you just have to use it right away though 🙂 Keep refrigerated. I’m not sure how long it can last, but as it’s got lots of vinegar I imagine 3 months or more. It usually gets used up faster than that around these parts. I usually make a double batch at a time (which is what is pictured to the left)
