Primal BBQ Sauce

My good buddy Roger De Rok and I were out doing arroyo sprints yesterday (sprints in a sandy arroyo.. they will WRECK you). It is about a 45 minute walk to and from the arroyo through the desert with the lizards and jackrabbits (100s of them)  and it makes for good talk time. Roger told me about a debate spurred recently on MDA about what the most primally acceptable BBQ sauce was.

Well it just so happens that I created a 100% primal and 100% delicious barbecue sauce last week when I made some BBQ brisket. I wanted to make bbq but I wanted it primal so I researched a bunch, made myself an expert on bbq sauce and adapted a primal recipe version. I decided to replicate the results for measurements so I could give the recipe to all of you. Here it is and wowzas is it good. I could (and did) eat this stuff by the spoonful.

SoG Zesty Barbecue Zauce

Ingredients:
- 1 6oz can tomato paste (preferable organic)
- 1 to 1.5 cups of beef stock (I made my own but if you buy, you want it without salt)
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- .5 of an onion
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons chili powder

Directions:
1. Dice your onions and garlic as fine as possible. You want your BBQ sauce a little chunky but the more fine you dice these, the better the flavor will spread through the entire sauce.
2. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Whether you use 1 cup or 1.5 cups of beef stock will depend on how thick you want your sauce.
3. Bring sauce to heat on stove with a low setting.
4. Cover and simmer. Stir frequently and taste regularly. The longer you simmer, the more consistent your flavor will be. I simmered for 20-30 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

Extra can be stored in refrigerator.

Who said BBQ can’t be primal? I can just imagine this spread over a nice Bacon Explosion! I am using some of my sauce for rotisserie chicken tonight.

P.S. You can probably substitute garlic and onion powders for the fresh garlic and onion for a slacker sauce.

Yes, I actually have 3 crockpots

There aren’t many easier ways to cook than with a crockpot. You can also make some darn good meals with the sucker. So dust off your crockpot, or if you don’t have one… go buy one! We will be having many recipes on the site going forward that are going to require a crockpot as my wife is a master with it.

Advantages of crockpot cooking:
1. A crockpot doesn’t require constant babysitting. Just leave it be and go do all the other crap you have to get done. The crockpot will take care of your meal for you.
2. A crockpot will tenderize and soften meat for you so go ahead and use that cheaper tougher cut!
3. It is hard to burn a meal using a crockpot.
4. You a fan of stews, soups, shredded meats? A crockpot is a must have.
5. The longer cooking times mean better distribution of flavors! Yum yum and yum.
6. A crockpot leaves the stove and oven open and available for anything else you might want to cook up. Primal Peach Patties for dessert anyone?

I am sure there are some other advantages that I missed out on in there but that is a good start. Around the SoG’s house we mostly use our crockpot for green chile stew, chilli’s and no tortilla tortilla soup! Stay tuned for some of these delicious SoG creations but here is a simple little crockpot recipe to get you started:

Primal Cabbage Rolls (SoG adapted recipe. Original recipe has unknown origin and was not primal)
Ingredients:
12 large cabbage leaves
1 1/2 lbs ground beef or lamb
1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)
3/4 cups water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. leaf thyme

Directions:
1. Boil 4 cups water. Turn off heat.
2. Soak washed cabbage leaves in water for 5 minutes then drain and cool.
3. Combine ground meat, salt, pepper, and thyme.
4. Place 2 tablespoons meat mixture on each leaf and roll firmly.
5. Stack rolls in the crockpot.
6. Combine tomato paste and water then pour over stuffed cabbage.
7. Cover and Cook on low setting for 8 – 10 hours.
8. Enjoy!

What are your favorite uses of the crockpot?