On to the eleventh sauce - thanks going to
justjack for this one.
#11 justjack (
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1526634&postcount=41)
Mate, I don't measure when I make sauces, but I'll give you an outline. Biting my tongue on the rest, but I bet you're a bit of a mind reader, eh?!
30 - 40 birds eye chillies, chuck in a handfull of chipotles too, if you like
5 habs, either choc or orange
1 whole pineapple fresh
2 whole mangoes
1 onion minced
1 carrot grated
2 litres breakfast juice
2 tbs fresh ground black pepper
couple shots of Inner Circle.. more if I can bear to part with it
2 - 3 cups vinegar, apple cider usually, also some white balsamic for flavour
Garlic, lots
Simmer to reduce, blitz with the missus's little mate, salt to taste, add whatever it needs to round it out. It ain't rocket science mate, so I tend to tip and guesstimate.
Recipe Review:
Notes: I used apple cider vinegar (Cornwell’s brand), homebrand breakfast juice (as specified), and Inner Circle Rum. Garlic amounts were not specified, so I ended up using 6 large cloves, minced.
Meats tested, variations tried: Pork tenderloin, pork ribs, pulled beef, lamb and chicken breast. I tested the sauce pureed as a sauce/glaze, and semi-chunky as a dipping sauce.
Ingredients: It is quite apparent that this is a fruity, tropical sauce, reminiscent of a mango-pineapple hot-sauce. The breakfast juice contains a range of fruits, (apple, pear, orange, mango, grape, peach, apricot, guava, lemon, passionfruit), which should complement the apple cider vinegar well. There are a LOT of chillies, and I will start off by saying I will not be adding them all, but will add some chipotles as suggested in the hope that this will lend the applicability of the sauce to beef slightly more so.
Ease of preparation: Almost as simple as recipes get, the only lengthy process being peeling the pineapple, mangos and deseeding some of the chillies. Simmering does take a short while, but I found that after about 30-45 minutes, it was at a nice consistency for pureeing and finishing.
Taste/Texture: VERY spicy... unless you are accustomed to very spicy foods and have a mouth and stomach of steel (think Homer Simpson in the chili competition episode where uses candle wax in his mouth due to the heat of Chief Wiggums chili), all you will get is heat, and it will be hard to appreciate the other flavours. The chilli gives the sauce a great kick, and in combination with the mango, pineapple and breakfast juice, the result is a very fruity, complex sauce with a range of flavours happening. The onion, garlic and black pepper provide a savoury aspect to the sauce, bringing it back from being too fruity (like a desert sauce minus the chilli). I found that black pepper works nicely with tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple, and it doesn’t let down in this recipe. The cider vinegar counteracts some of the spiciness as well as the sweetness of the fruits and breakfast juice. Finally, the shot of rum gives it a nice alcoholic kick, and as we all know, booze and tropical fruits go together very nicely. Texture can be controlled by reducing to the appropriate amount of liquid and then blending to the desired consistency (chunky or smooth).
Recommendations: To start, most will want to cut back on the number of chillies to at least half the amount in the recipe. I would also replace some with a chipotle or 2 to introduce a slight smokiness and a savoury yet fruity note (contradictory, but chipotles seem to have this effect). As suggested at the end of the recipe, be sure to add salt to taste as it will need it to bring out the flavours and balance the other elements of the sauce.
Ratings:
Appearance:
8/10 Depending on the colour of the chillies used (I used red and only a few chipotles), you will either have a fairly bright red/orange sauce, or a slightly darker sauce. Using orange habaneros and red chillies will result in the nicest looking sauce, whilst using green chillies, lots of chipotles and chocolate habaneros will darken the sauce and result in a slightly less pleasant looking sauce. I found the sauce to look great whether it was still chunky or baby smooth. The flecks of pepper look great in the sea of orange, as do the seeds from the chillies.
Consistency:
8/10 As consistency is controlled by the reduction and subsequent blending of the sauce, it is entirely up to you as to how thick, thin, chunky, or smooth you would like it. For glazing, and brushing purposes, smooth is best, but you can also blend half of the sauce and pulse the other half, leaving it chunky for dipping or adding to other recipes. The sauce is “naturally thickened”, meaning that there are no added thickening agents such as starches or gums, so if you want your sauce thick and sticky, you have to cook it down until quite syrupy, then blend and possibly reduce it a little more. This will result in a darker, less fresh tasting sauce, but perhaps one more to your liking in terms of consistency.
Taste:
7.5/10 Fruity, spicy, tropical, tangy and sweet with subtle vegetal undertones. Due to the lack of added spices, molasses, and tomato, it does lack that classical “bbq sauce” flavour which makes it even more unique and less susceptible to clashes with underlying spice rubs. Whilst you do not really feel that it is let down by this, it does leave you wondering how it would taste if modified to include some sweet spices (ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, coriander, juniper etc).
Versatility:
6/10 One of the few letdowns of this sauce. It simply does not translate well for certain meats. Whilst it was (excuse the less than scientific and slightly immature use of language) freaking awesome on pork ribs, pork tenderloin and chicken, it was less than impressive on beef, lamb and duck. As a dipping sauce, it works very well, and I can recommend it for occasions requiring a spicy yet fruity sauce.
Overall Rating:
7.5/10. There is no doubt that we have a very interesting sauce here with a great depth of flavour and good balance of elements. I would also like to play around with added spices at some stage and possibly with some added butter to carry the flavours. My only major criticism is the lack of versatility inherent with such a distinctly fruity sauce. On the “right” meats, this is a VERY nice sauce – very Moorish and flavourful without being too rich or over powering (provided you dial back on the chillies).
Photos of sauce construction:
1.) The ingredients:
Clockwise from top (Salt not shown):
Chillies + Garlic, Chopped Pineapple, Mushed Mango, Breakfast Juice, Apple Cider Vinegar + White Balsamic + Inner Circle Rum, , Onion + Carrot, Black Pepper
.
2.) After cooking for about 30 minutes until reduced and thick:
3.) Blending:
4.) Half chunky, half smooth:
5.) After cooling:
Thanks
justjack for the recipe :clap2::clap2:
Next up,
lake dogs second sauce!