during the summer, bbq is always popular. a couple summers ago, i tried making my own sauce, and it tasted pretty darn delish. now i’m hooked. it’s usually never the same. sometimes, i’ll throw a little sweet baby ray’s in there, or sometimes i’ll use honey for tangy sweet bbq, or maybe peppers or hot sauce for a little spice.
this time around, i happened to have almost a quart of michigan cherries in the fridge. i knew there was a way i could incorporate them into my bbq, so i set on a mission to make it up. it was a little trial and error and lots of tasting, but the result was fantastic. and, being ever inventive, i was able to get two meals from it.
i also knew this would be the perfect thing to bring to my friend shaye at smarter than pancakes’s birthday party picnic blogging event. check it out on the 28th – she’ll share what all of her guests have brought to the picnic!
the recipe starts off with a chutney, which i served over tuna steaks. i then used part of that chutney and the flavors involved to make a bbq sauce, which inspired a jerk-style rub massaged into pork ribs. if you want to skip the chutney, just combine the two recipes and you’ll have lots of sauce! i hope you enjoy!
cherry pepper chutney
- 4-8 whole, fresh banana peppers (depending on how hot you like it)
- 1 cup sweet cherries, pitted
- 1 cup stewed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup catsup
- 2 tbsp hot sauce
- 4 leaves fresh basil
- 8-12 leaves fresh oregano
wash peppers and place on second shelf of grill over high heat for 4-6 minutes. (until the skin has blistered and is easy to peel off.) let cool and remove peels, stems and seeds. (if you really want it hot, you can leave the seeds, but they don’t puree that well.)
pulse all ingredients briefly in food processor. just enough so that everything is chopped, not pureed.
take half of the mixture and strain it through a fine screen or cheese cloth. pour the liquid back into food processor.
what’s left in the strainer is your chutney. great over fish! (i served mine over tuna steaks. for the crust on the fish, i placed white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, dried orange peel, and freshly cracked salt and pepper on a plate, dipped both sides of tuna, and seared on the grill.)
sweet heat bbq sauce
take what is remaining from chutney recipe above and add:
- 1/2 cup catsup
- 2 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 tbsp worcestershire
- 2 tbsp bbq of the americas* (spice from penzey’s, ingredients to follow)
- 2 tbsp apple cider molasses
- 2 tbsp organic honey
puree all ingredients until saucy. may need additional seasonings to taste.
jerk-style rib rub
- 1/4 cup bbq of the americas* (spice from penzey’s, ingredients to follow)
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 3 tbsp spiced pirate’s pepper (spice from st. john spice company, ingredients to follow)
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp raw cane sugar
mix all ingredients well. rub generously into ribs. cover with bbq, place in crockpot with 2 dark beers (enough to cover) and cook on high 4-6 hours.
remove from crockpot, slather some more sauce on and grill to desired level of char. (the sugar in the rub and in the sauce helps to get that tasty char that makes the ribs so finger lickin’ good!)
*bbq of the americas ingredients: salt, paprika, allspice, nutmeg, cayenne, black pepper, white pepper, cinnamon, thyme, ginger
*spiced pirate’s pepper ingredients: black pepper, white pepper, green pepper, red pepper, garlic, onion, oregano, sea salt, other spices
