Scratch on-farm BBQ sauce

We like making things from scratch rather than buying them, especially condiments and processed foods; I've been making my own mustard for years. This fall, as I began to experiment with both pork and a smoker, developing a reliable BBQ sauce recipe became a high priority. After several rounds of experimentation, here's one I came up with that we've really liked. It would probably be considered a Kansas City-style sauce, a sweet/sour tomato sauce that's rich and tasty. Using our own farm-smoked chipotle peppers really adds to the flavor. It doesn't have to be a meat condiment; the flavor is plenty good for adding flavor to rice, eggs, and lots of other things. As I often do, I'll note on-farm ingredients in italics.

2 red onions

5 cloves garlic

1T cumin

1T coriander

1t mustard seed

1t paprika

1t black pepper

2 chipotle peppers (our own dried & smoked jalapenos; dried or fresh regular jalapenos work too)

2lb tomatoes

1 cup water

1t salt

1/4 cup sorghum

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup tomato paste (made & canned in the fall)

Saute onions, then garlic, in a bit of oil in a large pot. If using fresh jalapenos, chop in with garlic. If using dried peppers, grind with all spices in a good mortar and stir them in for a few more minutes. When this is all nicely aromatic and sizzling, add everything else, stir to blend, and allow to simmer for as long as you want. I generally go for a few hours, to really blend the flavors and get it nice and thick. At some point I'll combine everything with an immersion blender to get the texture I want. Adjust flavors as needed; it should be a good blend of sweet and sour with a nice kick to it. This freezes well for easy use later, and is good to make in fall with abundant tomatoes, or winter with canned and dried ingredients.