Peach BBQ Sauce

Have too many peaches? Peaches that are on the too ripe side and starting to get gooshey? Never fear. Peach Barbeque Sauce is here. This is a delicious sauce and is especially good on pork. It seems to last forever in the refrigerator and freezes well.

PEACH BBQ SAUCE

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3 cups chopped peaches
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups beer
• 1 cup catsup
• 1 cup mustard
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbs cider vinegar
• 2 tbs worchestershire sauce
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the peaches, pepper, salt and garlic. Cook for a minute stirring frequently. Add the beer and the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Drink the rest of the beer while stirring as it comes to a boil....oh heck...drink another one too. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes

Cool the mixture until it is just warm. Place half of the sauce in a blender. Remove the center piece of the blender lid so the steam can get out. You don't want your sauce and blender to explode. *Puree until smooth. Repeat with the rest of the sauce. Refrigerate for up to 10 days or freeze.

Notes:

*I use a hand held immersion blender , as long as it is just a single recipe. If our peach trees are especially generous, I will make a double batch for the freezer.

Leave the skin on the peaches. Don't waste your time trying to peel them. You are just going to puree them anyway.

Generally, I despise "Ball Park" type mustard and substitute Dijon whenever possible, but in this case you should use the inexpensive French's or other yellow mustard. You really want that harsher mustard flavor and will be wasting your money if you use Dijon. I haven't tried it yet, but adding whole mustard seeds to the mix or using a grainy brown mustard might be good here if a bit more expensive.

For a BBQ pork butt, roast or chops, I will marinate my meat in this sauce for a few hours before cooking. Discard the marinade and use fresh sauce for basting during the last part of the cooking process.

Beef Lemon Shiskebab

The last gasp of Indian Summer is upon us in California. Crisp mornings and warm afternoons in the high 70 to low 80 degrees. Perfect time to use up that last bag of charcoal briquettes and have friends over for an early afternoon barbeque.

This recipe takes a not so tender cut of beef and turns it into a tasty and festive meal that really stretches the food budget. I've cooked this since the Carter years, which it seems we are doomed to repeat. SO .....here goes an inexpensive meal that will easily feed 6 to 8 adults.

LEMON SHISKEBAB

Marinade
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion
1 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp granualed beef broth
1/2 tsp pepper

Blend all the marinade ingredients in a food processor until a fine puree.

SHISKEBAB

4 pounds of thick cut sirloin steak or london broil
32 large mushroom caps
3 large lemons
3 large red and green peppers

Optional: Zuchinni, yellow squash, eggplant

Cut the meat into 32 squares about 1 1/2 inches. Pour the marinade in a large ziplock bag or bowl and toss in the meat squares. Marinate overnight for optimal tenderness.

A few hours before cooking:

Cut up the pepper into 1 1/2 squares.

If using the optional zuchinni or other squash. Slice into 1/2 thick pieces.

Eggplant cut into 1 1/2 inch squares. Peeling the eggplant is optional. I like the peel because it keeps the eggplant chunks whole.

Thinly slice the lemons.

Bring the meat mixture out and toss in all the ingredients except the lemon. Marinate and bring to room temperature for several hours. Room temperature is important otherwise your skewers will be uncooked and cold in the center.

Place meat on skewers alternating the other ingredients. Broil or grill until meat is desired doneness. Basting with marinade if needed. The meat in the middle of the skewers will be less done than the ends for those (me me me!!) who like their meat on the rare side.

Serve with:
Mixed greens salad and lemon rice or orzo pilaf.
Dessert: pineapple lemon sorbet. If you think you are already overloaded on lemon/citrus then you can't go wrong with plain old vanilla ice-cream and some fresh chopped macerated fruit.