an easy bbq sauce

and a tip for ribs

Summer has gone so very fast, packed as it has been with as much summer fun as we could fit, that although I meant to respond weeks ago to Jonathon's request for easy summer protein ideas I find myself here on August 28!! with the recipe for bbq sauce he asked for months ago. I could pretend to all and sundry that I am just seriously nice but really although I do try to be nice, posting this recipe is purely selfish - if I post a recipe here I always know where to find it and this recipe for a bbq sauce that we all really like has been floating through my cookbooks and shelves for a few years. Every time I want to make bbq sauce I do a nervous mini-search and think to myself that I really, really need to write the recipe down properly or at least put the silly little scrap of paper that I scribbled the basics on in the file! Then I sigh with relief when I find it again, whip up the sauce, feed the crew, clean the kitchen and slip the silly little scrap of paper back between the pages of yet another cookbook. Finally, today I am going beyond that loop. I'll know where to find it and if you need a bbq sauce recipe that is fast, gluten and refined-sugar free, and yummy - you will too. Win, win - with the bonus that I am at long last responding to my son. Nice!

The first time I made this it was a Sunday afternoon and I wanted to bbq-sauce something on the grill but we had no bbq sauce in the house (no real surprise because let's be honest, most commercial sauces leave a lot to be desired). We don't shop on Sundays and no bbq sauce is not an 'ox in the mire' situation so, not being one to let those realities defeat a desire I set about making bbq sauce. I figured it couldn't be that hard and it wasn't. This is not a bbq sauce that you have to shop for exotic ingredients and then chop and simmer for hours. This is a sauce that you can open the pantry and whisk together. There is probably a place for the exotic chopping and simmering kind of sauce but I think for now I will stick with fast and easy. Not really for the fast-and-easiness of it but just because we like it.

As for the 'summer protein' thing - it is still summer right?!

easy bbq sauce

3/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), drained and chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup water

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp dried ground chipotle pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

Mix all ingredients together. That's it. Told you it was easy.

Now for the ribs:

For years and forever I have parboiled my ribs before finishing them on the grill. (this because the constant flare-ups and burnt offerings had almost convinced us that bbq'd ribs were not for us) Pre-cooking the ribs that way worked very well but there is a better way - Hannah shared the genius of using the slow-cooker! Simply put the ribs into the slow-cooker, turn it on low with 1/4" of water on the bottom and walk away for six hours. When you come back, take the ribs out of the cooker and brush them with some of your newly made bbq sauce. Pop them on the grill for a few quick minutes. Done.