Last weekend I made oven-roasted pork spareribs and, since I time to kill during the 4 1/2 hours that the ribs were cooking, I also made a batch of homemade barbecue sauce.  This sauce is “quick and easy” because it uses ketchup as the tomato base rather than whole canned tomatoes which would take hours to break down into sauce.

Quick and Easy Barbecue Sauce (from The New Best Recipe)
Makes about 2 cups of delicious, tangy sauce!

You will need…
1 Yellow Onion, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup Water
1 cup Ketchup
2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
5 tablespoons Molasses
1 teaspoon Hot Pepper Sauce (I used Cholula)
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Liquid Smoke
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1-2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Directions:
Place the onion and water in a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds until the mixture looks like a slushy.  Use a mesh strainer to strain the mixture into a bowl or measuring cup until you have 1/2 cup of onion juice.  Discard the solids.

Mix the onion juice and the next 8 ingredients (vinegar thru liquid smoke) together in a bowl.  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat until it is shimmering, then add in the garlic, chili powder and cayenne pepper.  Allow to cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the ketchup mixture.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer the sauce for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before using.