Fresh Cherry BBQ Sauce ~ Over Chicken & Veggie Kebobs
A fabulous Basting and Dipping BBQ Sauce to make During Cherry Season! A gorgeous color with Fresh Cherry Flavor. See recipe below for Chicken & Veggie Kebobs.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a heavy non-reactive pot, add oil and warm over low- medium heat.
Add the onions and garlic, stir until just starting to become golden, about 3 minutes.
Add the next 10 ingredients – chipotle pepper through tomato paste.
Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a slow simmer and cover the pot.
Cook, stirring from time to time for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, wash and dry cherries.
On a cutting board, remove each pit – discard any stems. This is not difficult – use a small sharp knife, cut cherry in half, pry out the pit and discard.
You will have about 2 1/2 cups of pitted cherries.
Uncover the sauce, take off heat and cool slightly for 5 minutes.
Place in a blender – whirl from low speed to high until very smooth – about 1 minute.
Add 3/4’s of the cherries to the carafe – puree until smooth, 1 minute.
Add the remaining 1/4 of cherries – pulse a few times to chop – KEEP THE SAUCE CHUNKY – great with some texture.
OR: chop the remaining 1/4 of the cherries on the countertop, folding into the warm sauce.
The BBQ sauce may be hot water “canned.” Or, freeze some. Will last in the refrigerator for about a week.Hint: if you puree the sauce smooth, without large pieces of cherries, it will last longer in the refrigerator.
Grilled Chicken & Veggie Kebobs with Cherry BBQ Sauce:
For 4 Kebobs, cut 1 1/4 pounds of chicken breast (I used chicken tenderloins) into 1 1/2″ chunks, marinate with some extra virgin olive oil, grated garlic, salt & pepper.
Thread on metal skewers (or soaked bamboo ones) with slices zucchini, yellow pepper and red onion.
Add some fresh herbs… thyme leaves are nice, to the kebobs – baste with olive oil infused with some smoked paprika… adds a nice flavor and color.
Grill over medium high heat – remember to oil the grates of the grill.
Turn when very golden – cook the second side on medium – low heat so they don’t dry out, until cooked through.
Baste with Cherry BBQ sauce at the end, remove to a platter.
Serve with extra sauce on the side and garnish with bing cherries and fresh herbs.
SEE BLOG for more photos and how-tos.
* with concerns about gmo’s and processing of oils, use a vegetable oil which has not been chemically treated, this is called “expeller pressed.”
This recipe may not be reproduced without the consent of its author, Karen Sheer
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