barbecue sauce with a coffee hit

After visiting a local barbecue joint here in Perth I fell in love with their espresso BBQ sauce. I just had to try and replicate it! I used my favourite BBQ sauce recipe inspired by Heston Blumenthal and added two shots of espresso.

We have a few BBQ sauce recipes in our repertoire and we always find ourselves coming back to this one. There’s an initial hit of coffee followed by the spices and finished off with the tang of tomato and vinegar.

ingredients

• 20g olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 golden shallot
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 200g tomato passatta
• 100g apple cider vinegar
• 2 shots strong espresso (or 1/2 cup hot water and 4 teaspoons instant coffee)
• 100g Demerara sugar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

directions

for Thermomix

1. Chop garlic/shallot 4 sec, speed 7.
2. Add oil cook for 100 deg, 3 mins, speed 1.
3. Add spices and sugar to TM bowl and mix until combined. 30 sec, speed 1.
4. Add remaining ingredients and cook on varoma, 20 mins, speed 1. Remove measuring cup after 15 minutes.
5. Allow to cool then blitz for 30 seconds, speed 9.
6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
7. Enjoy your espresso BBQ sauce!

for stovetop

1. Finely chop the garlic and shallot and saute in oil over a medium heat for at least 10 minutes until golden.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to almost boiling then reduce and simmer until the sauce thickens, roughly 25 minutes.
3. Allow the sauce to cool slightly before transferring to a food processor and blend until smooth.

The addition of coffee also works well for our Basic BBQ Sauce