BBQ sauce

 I like making my own barbecue sauce. Ever since I found this recipe from the excellent book, Great Food Fast by Martha Stewart's Everyday Food department, I haven't bought the bottled stuff, though I still have a soft spot for Sonny's. Martha Stewart's is particularly good for shredded pork, beef, or chicken sandwiches, as it isn't too thick. Sweet, but not too sweet. A little mustard, but not a mustard base. Vinegar and hot sauce for a little kick, but not overpowering (and you can always adjust the hot sauce to taste).

But it calls for molasses, which is hard to come by here in Brazil. I know it exists, but I have yet to see it in a conventional grocery store. Last night I had a leftover (and slightly overdone) beef roast that didn't sound good as a repeat but sounded great as a BBQ beef sandwich. I needed a sauce without molasses and a minimum of brown sugar, as that doesn't exist at all here and I guard it like it's gold. I dug around online and found this little gem.

It calls for apple cider vinegar, which I couldn't find, but I used Brazilian apple vinegar, which is close. Other substitutes for apple cider vinegar include diluted red wine, sherry, or champagne vinegars. I also didn't use as much hot sauce or salt as it called for. Result: Good vinegar-based thin sauce, if you like that kind. If you like a sweeter or thicker sauce, or if you balk at the tang of the vinegar (and it's pretty strong), the Martha Stewart one is a safer bet. It made our meat a lot tastier, and even my two-year-old liked it. I might try it again after getting back to the states, as I think real apple cider vinegar would really help. If you try it, let me know how it went.

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