Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

     I have a thing about Barbecue sauce. I remember my Grandmother, may she rest in peace, used to get some homemade sauce from some church friend. Now what you have to know is that my Grandmother was to chicken what Michelangelo was to marble, she transformed the ordinary into something wonderful with what seemed to be very little effort. I miss her. Oh, but back to the sauce... Her friend, probably one of the Trustee's Wives, made a tomato based barbecue sauce, not too sweet, with a lot of black pepper. Now this is back before there were 60,000 different types of sauce on the shelves of your local Kroger, so it really stood out to me. And added to Mrs. Martin's chicken? SAY WHAAATTT?? We're talking tasty pudding people!!  Not to mention that those were good days, DFA days, when I thought that I was, or at least should be, immortal and thought that she was too. I was wrong, but BBQ sauce always takes me back to those days. Is it stupid that I' m crying over a BBQ sauce recipe? So anyway, even though this isn't her sauce, this is for Mrs. Alice S. Martin.

     Ok, first things first. Yes, I'm on kind of a chipotle kick. I love the smokiness and spice that they add to any dish or sauce. Now, if for some reason you don't like chipotle peppers, omit them here. I don't know, maybe there's some poultry in your family tree....;^) Anyway, in that case, this becomes a rather sweet sauce that you can either leave as is or balance with 2 tsp of brown mustard. Ok, I apologize for the chicken reference, occasionally I omit the Chipotle to appease the palate of my 3yr old. Otherwise, this is a very straight forward, one pot recipe.

• 2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp Chili Powder
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 med onion diced
• 2 tsp Smoked Paprika 
• 2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 1 can diced or petite diced tomatoes
• 1 Chipotle pepper
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup white Sugar
• 1 cup Ketchup
• 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Add everything in a pot, heat over low heat, stirring often for 25 mins. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, mix in blender, food processor or with immersion blender until smooth. Or leave chunky if you like.  Alternately, add    1/2 can of your favorite soda or beer for a different flavor profile. You'll have to cook the sauce down an additional 10-15 mins.  Enjoy!!