Double Cherry BBQ Sauce

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Mmm. Is that a great lookin' piece of chicken or what. I mean, not to toot my own horn (too much. toot, toot) but I am quite enthralled with that picture. Of all the pictures I have ever posted, that is indeed (by a long shot) the most unique.

Now looking over to your right, what do you think that is a picture of? If you look up a scoach, you'll see the name of the recipe I will be sharing today is Double Cherry Barbecue Sauce, so somewhere in your mind, you must be assuming it is chicken with said sauce. Am I right?

Well, it certainly is that sauce. I made it with Tellicherry Pepper and Dried Sour Cherries. You are gonna love it, because it was really, really lip smackin' good.

Thing is though, I ate it over some rice. Not too pretty to take snaps of really. Just a big ol' bowl of brownish who-could-tell-what.

So just so I would have a visual to stimulate your appetites (since heaven knows, it ain't my prose doing the titillating around here) I plated what you see and shot away. And while it may look tasty, the facts are, I didn't eat any of that. Heck, it wasn't even edible. Oh yes, the bbq sauce was divine. Smoky-sweetness with a hint of spice, but that isn't what I'm talking about. Are you confused? Here, let me walk you through it.

First, I cooked a partially defrosted chicken breast that was past it's expiration date, on a piece of foil in a 250F oven for about 15 minutes until it was just firm and milky white. I took it out and rinsed it off, and patted it dry. I then brushed it with a product called Kitchen Bouquet. I'm not entirely sure what Kitchen Bouquet is really for, but it makes things look nice and brown so on it went. Next up, I heated a long metal skewer over the burner and utilizing my excellent spacial relation skills, branded "grill marks" onto one side. Not easy, since the skewer was glowing red and I had to be extra precise.

I then took a bit of the bbq sauce, smeared it on and used my fingers to add a few strategic cherries and flecks of pepper. After that, I took a cup of warm water and dumped in some frozen corn (the plate needed some color) to defrost a little, not all the way though, since I didn't want to risk it getting shriveled. I drained that and gently patted it dry, then coated it with some corn syrup to give it a good sheen and help it stay up in more of a pile. I had some baby lima beans ready too, but they got nixed for being too pale. Not wanting to waste the tasty bbq sauce on a picture, I filled a ramekin 3/4 of the way up with some plastic wrap, and sacrificed a few spoonfuls of the magically delicious sauce on top to make it look full. Next I carried the whole concoction into the bathroom, set it down and took a few dozen shots. I dont have photoshop, or even picasa, so the post editing was minimal. I think I hit "enhance" and that was all. No cropping, no removing spots and no further color correction. After its photographic debut, the chicken went into the trash, the corn, down the sink and the sauce, back into the container I was storing the rest of it in. I've been enjoying it all week.

That all done, you end up with what you are seeing at the top of the page. Styled food. It's what you see when you flip through your favorite food magazines, all cookbooks and my guess is, more than a few blogs. At least to a certain extent. So does knowing that affect if you want to make the sauce or not?

I did this all for you my sweet readers, but I promise, if I ever do it again, I will always let you know. It was an experiment of sorts, and I hope you found it interesting. I sure did!

Now go on, try it (the sauce I mean!)...and enjoy!

1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced fine
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup dried sour cherries, rough chopped
1 tablespoon tellicherry peppercorns, coarsely ground
1 tablespoon pink peppercorns, coarsely chopped
1 dried chipotle pepper. ground or chopped fine
Tiny pinch cloves
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 tablespoon molasses
Water

In a sauce pan, heat the oil over a medium low flame and sweat the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients except the water. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, adding water if it gets too thick. (The thickness of the end product should reflect your taste, I go for really thick) When it is where you want, remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Remove 1/4 cup of the sauce and puree the rest with your blender (emersion or otherwise) add back to the pot (you can opt to strain it here, but I didn't bother) add back in the un-pureed bit and let simmer a few more minutes (about 10) Remove from the heat, let cool, and then do with it what you will. Though, I suggest avoiding putting it on raw chicken. (wink)

Makes about three cups sauce. Will keep in the fridge for a month.

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Unlike black, white and green; pink really aren't peppercorns, but they are called so because of their size and flavor.

Tellicherry and Malabar pepper come from the same plant and are harvested at the same time. The largest 10% bear the name Tellicherry. Tellicherry are better than small for much the same reason that vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh from a farmer's stand in the middle of August, are better than shelf-ripened tomatoes from the supermarket in January. It is only in the final weeks of ripening that the rich, sweet flavor develops. Immature pepper is still nice and well worth a trip to the market, but it is that extra ripening time that makes the trip half-way around the world seem like a worthwhile effort. - Penzeys.com

Kitchen Bouquet does not have a website. I called the number on the bottle though (800-537-2823) and did learn that it is good for a year and a half, does not have to be refrigerated, and is made by (wait for it!) The Clorox Company. Mmmm.