A few days ago I managed to sneak in what I imagine will be the last BBQ of the summer. Truth be told it was a little chilly and a lot dark. None the less, a star emerged for this final farewell to al fresco dining. I made pork burgers following Mr Ramsays slider recipe and very nice they were too. The smokey BBQ sauce/relish that accompanied this recipe was a keeper though.
I will admit that the compulsion to 'just have another taste', almost left us with nothing but a bottle of ketchup for the burgers. This is dangerously moorish. Spicy, smokey, sweet and sour. I cannot stop thinking of reasons to make it. I did manage to reign it in at the last minute thankfully.
I am not really sure whether to call it a sauce or a relish. Sauce, in my mind, has dippability and relish a far chunkier affair altogether. I guess it's somewhere in between. I was unable to come up with a witty mix of the words sauce and relish, luckily sparing us all that cringey moment.
The key is the paprika, it has to be smoked. That's where the wonderful flavour comes from. I used hot smoked paprika and it had a really nice heat to the sauce. If you would rather a milder version try using sweet smoked paprika instead.
Ingredients:
- Olive oil for frying
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 tbsp tomato ketchup
- freshly ground pepper and sea salt
Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic, sugar and seasoning. Fry this for 5 minutes then add the smoked paprika, stir and cook for 10-15 minutes until the onion has caramelised. Add the vinegar and let this cook out for just a couple of minutes. Finally add the Worcestershire and ketchup and cook for a further 8 minutes until dropping consistency.
Obviously this can be made in advance.
Give this recipe a go. It's so easy to make so what if it doesn't really go in your cheese sandwich.
