Chokecherry/Chokeberry BBQ Sauce

Blueberry BBQ sauce has been around for awhile. This Chokecherry or Chokeberry BBQ Sauce can be modified for other berries or berry syrups, and has good depth of flavour with a little kick to finish it off. It kicks the same-old BBQ sauce out of the backyard BBQ!

You may remember the boat loads of chokecherry syrup I made from a bumper crop of wild chokecherries. I’m always on the lookout for new ways of using it up, so when I made meat balls for a family gathering out of the moose the husband harvested, I thought a chokecherry BBQ sauce would pair perfectly.

Making Chokecherry/Chokeberry BBQ Sauce

I have to interject: What is with the vinegar in homemade BBQ sauce? I’ve tried several recipes whose creators seem to like to burn the bronchi with the barest whiff of the sauce! I cut the vinegar way, way back so we won’t feel pickled at the end of our meal.

It’s easy to add a little more vinegar later, if you like. It’s less easy to have to dilute it with all the other ingredients. Ask me how I know (as I exhale acid).

The chili powder and pepper give a lovely little kick of heat to the sweet sauce. I had some Mexican chili powder from our local kitchen specialty store (Stony Brook Pantry). It has a smokiness to enhance that BBQ-ness. Perhaps in lieu of Mexican chili powder, a smoked paprika could be added or substitute part of classic chili powder for a similar effect. 

A pinch of cayenne pepper could also be added if you like more than a little kick to your sauce.

Molasses brings some depth of flavour to the bright berries (though I suspect chokecherries are less bright than most berries).

I am going to suggest several options for the berry portion of this BBQ sauce. Of course, you should get out in August and pick some chokecherries for homemade chokecherry syrup. You can’t even cheat unless you grab a pail from someone selling out of the back of their pick-up truck. I have never seen it for sale anywhere.

I do have a mind to plant a few chokeberry bushes for ease of picking and processing. They are similar to chokecherries, but without a pit! Check out the details here.

You could substitute with a saskatoon jam or blueberry syrup (I’ve seen both in stores). You could also substitute with fresh berries – half a cup berries with half a cup of sugar or honey. Mash or blend the berries.

I am no ketchup connoisseur like in the Barenaked Ladies song, “If I had a Million Dollars”. The kids, well, you know, sometimes use ketchup indiscriminately – would you like eggs with your ketchup? So, I grab whatever is on sale. You might enlighten me on the finer points of this condiment if there are any to be had. Maybe I’ll pull out grandma’s recipe one day.

Bring all the ingredients for the BBQ sauce to a boil in a sauce pan or microwave safe bowl. Simmer on low for ten minutes (lower power on the microwave) to meld the flavours.

Use This Chokecherry or Chokeberry BBQ Sauce hot or cold. It can be refrigerated for several weeks. It could be frozen for longer storage.

Enjoy this exotic, local delicacy wherever you might use BBQ sauce – burgers, steak, meatballs, chicken. Take a break from the same-old with this simple Chokecherry and Chokeberry BBQ sauce!

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