Homemade BBQ Sauce

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan with high sides, heat the canola oil over medium heat, then sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Add cumin and paprika, and cook for several seconds, until fragrant. Add tomatoes, ketchup, tomato paste and molasses. Simmer for 20 minutes, breaking tomatoes up with a spoon, until vegetables are very soft.

• Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and carefully purée in a blender, in batches, until sauce is smooth. (You can also purée right in the pot using an immersion blender; the sauce won't be quite as smooth, but that isn't the end of the world.)

• Pour carefully back into pan over low heat, and add soy sauce, vinegar and mustard. Cook 5 to 10 minutes more, until thick and slightly darkened, keeping the pot partially covered as sauce may pop and bubble a bit. Add lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool slightly, pour into a jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

• If you don't have all of the ingredients on hand, feel free to substitute brown sugar for molasses, lemon juice for lime, white vinegar for cider — it will still be great. Let it sit in the fridge for a day to reach its full flavour.

• When cooking with barbecue sauce, spread generously onto top of steaks around 2 minutes before cooking is complete. This will allow the sauce to warm up and caramelize slightly without burning.