Cherry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Pairs well with a Julian Cherry Bomb Hard Cider

It's that time of the year again, when fruit is cheap and it's too hot to cook in the house. I made this sauce for boar ribs but it also goes nicely with rabbit and chicken.

3 Cups Cherries
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
1-2 tsp chipotle powder (depending on how spicy you like it 2 tsp is pretty spicy.)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp coconut aminos
2 Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Honey

Smoked Rabbit legs and Chicken thighs.

In a large saucepan heat oil and add onion. Saute until translucent. Add garlic and mustard seeds and cook for about a minute. Add cherries and spices. Let simmer for about 10 minutes then add balsamic, aminos and honey. simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, then puree with immersion blender.

Worcestershire Sauce

Mr. Wonderful cooked me dinner one night: Cajun BBQ shrimp. I don't know why they call it BBQ shrimp when its sauteed and covered in butter sauce, but that's what it's called.  The recipe called for Worcestershire Sauce. Since I refuse to eat anything with any amount of corn syrup, even a miniscule amount, I had to make my own. Commercial Worcestershire Sauce also contains soy sauce, definitely not paleo. I searched through about 10 recipes, one dating back to 1876 (which was reprinted in 2009 in the NY Times). Food Renegade has an easy homemade Worcestershire sauce recipe. Mine is slightly less easy. In all the research I did, tamarind was one of the original main ingredients so I thought I needed it to be authentic. I don't know where to find tamarind paste, but I do know my local supermarket sells tamarind (aka tamarindo). It has a tangy flavor, so I can see why many recipes would use lemon or lime instead.

This goes great in marinades for all kinds of meat, especially steak. I also mix a table spoon of it into ground meat whenever I make burgers.

8 tamarind pods (yields about 1/4 cup tamarind paste)
1/2 cup shallots finely chopped
1 tsp coconut oil
2 cups cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut aminos
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp Brewer's yeast
2 oz anchovies, drained
1/4 cup honey

Boil about 1-2 cups of water. Peel and devein the tamarind pods and put pulp in a bowl. Pour boiling water over tamarind pulp and let stand for 10 minutes. Once soft, separate seeds from pulp by pressing through a sieve or mesh strainer. Discard the seeds, keep the pulp.

Saute shallots in coconut oil. Once caramelized, remove from pan and put in blender. Add all of the other ingredients to the blender. Might be a good idea to chop the anchovies first, but they creeped me out, so I through them into the blender whole so the wretched creatures would be out of my site. Liquify all the ingredients and refrigerate. Should make about 3 cups.

Horseradish Mayonnaise

As seen here with crab cakes!

This is a great condiment with seafood or meat. Eat it with pastrami and eggs. Also awesome on crab cakes. This was the first time I ever used fresh horseradish root.

1 large egg
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp crushed mustard seeds
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup olive oil
4-6 inch piece of horseradish, grated with microplane.

First, you want all the ingredients to be the same temperature, so leave them all out for a few hours. In a food processor, combine egg, garlic, mustard, salt, lemon and about half of the grated horse radish. Blend everything together thoroughly. While blender is blending, slowly drizzle the olive oil in. Very slowly. When all the olive oil is in, blend for about 1 more minute. Remove mayo from food processor and mix in the remaining horseradish a little at a time until it reaches the level of spiciness you like.

Marinara Sauce

Squashetti Marinara

I'm in utter shock and awe that people actually eat tomato sauce out of a jar. I have yet to find one that tastes as good as any homemade sauce I've had, and I grew up in NYC so I've tasted a lot of homemade sauces. It's pretty simple to make and if you're pressed for time, you can do it in a slow cooker.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf.

In a stock pot heat olive oil. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute then mix in herbs and spices. after 30 seconds, stir in balsamic and then add tomatoes, tomato paste and bay leaf. Cook on a low flame for 1-2 hours. remove from heat and let cool. Discard bay leaf and puree. Reheat when ready to use. Or if you like a chunky sauce, don't puree, just serve hot.

Boar Burgers

I'm only posting this because Nikos said they were the best burgers I ever made. Most of my burger recipes are pretty generic: ground animal + vinegar + seasoning. Sometimes onions are thrown in the mix. And if I happen to have homemade Worcestershire sauce, it goes in there too.

1 lb ground boar (or pork if that's what you got. I think dark meat chicken or turkey would also work.)
1 tbsp apple balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp homemade Worcestershire
1 tbsp Penzey's Tsardust Memories

If you don't have Tsardust Memories, combine cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic and salt into some blend of awesomeness.

I cooked these on the gas grill with applewood chips.