Blackberry BBQ Sauce

Behind the fence in the backyard is completely overgrown with blackberries which means a freezer full of blackberry jam every summer! The best way to get rid of the extra is to make Blackberry BBQ Sauce.

1 cup ketchup

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/3 cup blackberry jam

1 teaspoon mustard

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Mix it in a small bowl. Use as you would any other BBQ sauce.

I poured mine over a beef roast in the crock pot and cooked it on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Shred the beef and serve on hamburger buns.

Make Your Own Yoshida’s

I LOVE Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce/marinade! It is so versatile and I use it in my stir-frys, rice recipes, teriyaki dishes, as a dipping sauce… everything! I was so disappointed when I learned that it had high fructose corn syrup in it! :o(  (I’m not uber anal about the whole HFCS thing, but I like to avoid it whenever possible.)

But it is ok, because I discovered a substitute that is pretty darn close and pretty darn tasty, too! And now I know why it has HFCS… it has THREE kinds of sugar in it!

This recipe makes enough but not too much. If you need more, I suppose you can double it.

1 cup soy sauce

3 oz (3/8 cup) sugar

3 oz (3/8 cup) brown sugar

1/8 cup finely sliced green onions

1 teaspoon of ground or finely minced ginger

2 cloves of minced garlic

1/2 cup honey

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over med.-high heat, stirring often, until it comes to a boil and sugars all dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool before serving as a dipping sauce or marinade. You can use it right away as a sauce.

Croissant French Toast with Blackberry Sauce

This recipe makes me wish that I had stale croissants more often… Not that I will since, a: they are pretty expensive (and my boys can eat a whole lot of them!) and b: we usually eat them WAY before they get stale.

On the other hand, the blackberry sauce was so delicious and easy that we will probably have this quite often on pancakes, waffles & cheesecakes!

All you need to do is cut croissants in half, dip them in your favorite French toast batter and cook as usual.

Blackberry Sauce

4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries

2/3 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon instant clear gel

Place berries in saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Let boil for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix sugar and clear gel in a small bowl. Pour into boiling berries. Reduce heat to low and continue to stir until sugar dissolves and sauce becomes thicker.

Pour warm blackberry sauce over French toast and serve immediately.

Ok, so I may have overdone it on the sauce but I had two pieces of French toast and the sauce was super yummy! ;o)