With Labor Day approaching, everyone is saying goodbye to BBQ’ing with big parties and feasts. Even grocery stores get in on the action by having great sales on ribs and other delicious items to throw on the grill. Thankfully here in Southern California, we can BBQ all year. Labor Day is just another reason to buy charcoal and have friends and family come over for dinner. This year, we opted not to do ribs, but have grilled chicken instead!
Since I’m not ready to say goodbye to Summer or any of it’s fabulous flavors quite yet, I decided to pair our chicken with a Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Sauce! I created this recipe using great ingredients from our local Vom Fass store and shared it in my monthly column “Sara’s Kitchen Adventures” at IEShineOn! For those of you who may be new to my blog, I write and post here, but I also have a monthly column for a local website called “Sara’s Kitchen Adventures!” In it, I am blessed to travel to farms, Mom and Pop stores, bakeries and a variety of small business, food-centered stores in my area, talk to the owners, get to know them a little bit, then I go home and create a recipe to share using one or more ingredients from whatever store/business I visited. It’s a dream job and I love all the local people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet over the last year. I hope you try this BBQ sauce. It really is fabulous and it’s one of my new favorite things to put on chicken! Do you want to follow along on Sara’s Kitchen Adventures? You can! I’m on Instagram at: @Sara_DeLeeuw and I’m on Twitter too! Hope to see you there!
Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup red onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 - 2 jalapeños seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cup VOM FASS American Bourbon Whiskey
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup VOM FASS Blueberry Balsamic Star Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chipotle powder
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 3 shakes Chipotle Tabasco sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a 3qt saucepan over medium heat. Add red onion and cook until soft, but not brown, 2 - 4 minutes.
- Add chopped garlic and jalapeño to the pan, and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring often so the garlic doesn’t burn.
- Add VOM FASS American Bourbon Whiskey, and increase the heat to high. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cook until the liquid is nearly evaporated, about 2 - 5 minutes.
- Stir in all the remaining ingredients (blueberries through salt) and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and stirring often, simmer until thickened for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Remove the sauce from the heat, and place into a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. If you want a thinner sauce to use as a glaze, pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove any thicker solids.
- Use as you would your favorite BBQ sauce.
- Pairs well with ribs, pork or chicken. You can make it ahead of time too. It will keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.
