Recipe: Perfect Barbecue Sauce (using tomato paste and cinnamon)

Perfect Barbecue Sauce
rec.food.recipes/ S. John Ross

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
12-oz can tomato paste
12 rapid dashes Tabasco
1 tsp chili powder
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1 Tbsp each salt & pepper
dash cinnamon
1 cup cider vinegar

Over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are clear. Add brown sugar and stir until melted. Add tomato paste and stir thoroughly. Add salt, pepper, Tabasco, cinnamon, chili powder and vinegar. Stir until smoothly blended. Lower heat and lightly simmer (covered) for two hours.

Options: Add a half-teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or cayenne, along with the onions for more zip. Add a tablespoon of prepared brown mustard (or a tsp Coleman's, or both) for a more complex flavor. Add molasses for deeper flavor, or liquid smoke for duskiness. Add grated lemon peel and a healthy splash of white wine for a superior chicken-barbecue.

Variations:
For a less tangy sauce, substitute half the vinegar with beer, stock, or leftover tomato soup.

For less bite, reduce Tabasco.

For honey barbecue, replace brown sugar with 1 cup honey and an overflowing tablespoon of molasses.

Increasing both the sugar and vinegar by a half-cup will make a more commercial barbecue sauce, which is also more manageable on the brush for layered, long-term cooking.