Smoky barbecue sauce

American Cuisine


Ingredients:
- 1 ½ tsp vegetable oil.
- 1 medium onion, chopped.
- 1 tsp chopped garlic.
- ¼ cup bourbon.
- ½ cup cider vinegar.
- 2 ½ tbsp brown sugar.
- 2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, roughly chopped.
- ¾ tsp dijon mustard.
- ¾ tsp ancho chile powder.
- ½ bay leaf.
- Pinch of ground allspice.
- Small pinch ground clove.
- 1 cup chicken stock.
- ¾ cup ketchup.
- ½ cup canned plum tomatoes.
- 1 tbsp honey.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Directions:
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan.
- Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add the bourbon and simmer for 2 minutes longer.
- Stir in the vinegar, sugar, chipotle chilies, mustard, ancho chile powder, bay leaf, clove and allspice and bring to a boil.
- Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock, ketchup and tomatoes, cover partially and cook over low heat until reduced by half, about 1 hour.
- Remove from the heat and let cool.
- Discard the bay leaf and transfer the sauce to a blender. Puree until smooth.
- For a more velvety texture pass the sauce through a medium-mesh sieve.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
- Add the honey and taste the sauce again.
- Add more honey to taste if you wish to balance out the acidity of the vinegar.
- The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.