Chocolate Chip Week: Chocolate BBQ Sauce
There was a phase when I put BBQ sauce on everything. And I mean everything.
Baked beans? Well, obviously.
Crispy tofu? You bet.
Sandwiches? Lay it on.
Salad? Oh yeah.
Carrot sticks? Give me something harder, why dontcha?
I think I was going through my ambiguous post-physics pre-dietetics phase, where kitchen experiments abounded and common sense was in short supply. Poor Peter. The things I used to cook for us. The turning-up-my-nose at diner food because when I asked the waitress if they had whole grain pasta, she laughed in my face. He’s a good man for putting up with the crazies.
(Of course, if I ever need a good comeback, I have only to show him this picture:
Yep, that oughta do it.)
I guess you could say I was stretching my food creativity with BBQ sauce. Of course, there’s always room for creativity within BBQ sauce. Why not add the richness of chocolate? Chocolate Week, indeed.
I served the BBQ sauce with oven-baked chicken fingers: chicken tenderloin, dipped in egg, then panko mixed with oregano and sweet paprika, baked at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes. I also dipped my baby sweet bell peppers in the sauce — what? Carrot sticks, remember?
This recipe gave me the idea of putting chocolate in BBQ sauce. I was planning to adapt my own recipe around it, and I literally started making the BBQ sauce before realizing that one of the ingredients in the linked recipe was “8 oz. barbeque sauce”. Um, what? I thought that’s what I was making.
Anyway, so I made up this. Just for you, dear reader.
Chocolate BBQ Sauce
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Keywords: condiment vegetarian vegan chocolate
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 cup crushed or pureed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 oz. chocolate chips
- Salt
Instructions
Heat olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in olive oil for 2 minutes, or until onion turns golden.
Add tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar, ketchup, stock, cinnamon, chili powder, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then reduce temperature and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until thick.
Add chocolate chip and stir until melted. Add salt to taste. Can be eaten immediately or refrigerated for 8-12 hours to allow flavors to combine.
Pass the bell peppers!
Q: What do you put BBQ sauce on?
Hmmm, I think I never really use BBQ sauce. Strange, it seems like such a staple. I do, however, use copious amounts of tomato pasta sauce on top of all sorts of things. I don’t think chocolate would work quite as well in that context though haha.
I used to be more of a bbq sauce fiend than I am now…but with chocolate in it, I’m pretty sure my passion will resurface! ANd hey..if it works in mole and chili..why not bbq sauce!?