Santa Cruz

Veggie Burgers and BBQ sauce up in the sierras

We did a U-turn yesterday and headed inland due to some shitty weather that's due to hit the coast.

We arrived at our camp kinda late on, but it didn't stop me setting to work on making a BBQ sauce to go with the planned dinner of veggie burgers. I haven't made this sauce for ages- since our last van, back down in Chile.

The principles are fairly simple, and so the ingredients are easy to swap out if you don't have the right stuff to hand, e.g. we didn't have Apple juice yesterday, so I blitzed some fresh pineapple instead;

1) Onion, garlic and (optional) ginger base
2) Add spices and sweat
3) Add acids (vinegar, then reduce, then fruit juice, then reduce)
4) Add body- e.g. tomato passata- not an essential stage
5) Adjust flavour profile and seasoning- e.g. with soy sauce, mustard, honey/treacle/molasses
6) Cook out to desired texture

The burgers were done in panko, and in a toasted burger bap, served up with mayo, BBQ sauce, mustard, Susie's pickled carrots, shredded lettuce, super thin sliced tomatoes, and a full round slice of red onion on the base to give it some punch. They went down well. Patrick and Susie seem truly blown away with this veggie food- they are big meat-eaters- and Patrick is saying he's looking forward to serving up these recipes to his family as their minds will be blown by the dishes, and the fact he's cooking them. That's some big compliments there's which sent me to bed very happy.

As much as I've enjoyed eating all this stuff we've made, I'm looking forward to wrapping up the batches we have as it's been too long since we've been eating in places at the side of the road- it's killing me driving past such awesome ramshackle little places, packed out with locals and smoke bellowing out from the grill. We've still not had a single pollo asado (BBQ chicken), so that needs sorted out, pronto. And we need some more Baja fish tacos before we leave here for the mainland, soon.

Onwards we go. Today we should find some good bread at a bakery that's run by an old-skool biker guy, seemingly.

BBQ sauce recipe.

1 onion finely chopped
4 garlic cloves grated
Thumb of ginger grated
80ml red wine vinegar
80ml balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons ground coriander
3 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp gr ginger
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons chile flakes
4 chipotle chilies
2 teaspoons chipotle sauce
1 handful chopped cilantro stalks
8 desert spoons mustard (yellow or any type)
500mls apple juice (or other fruit juice)
50ml soy sauce
100mls honey
200 grams tomato passata
1.5 tablespoons sugar (estimate- see below)
Salt to taste

Note: the amount of sugar required may differ depending on how sweet the Apple juice is, so taste before adding and add gradually tasting as you go.

1. Gently cook the onion in a pot until softened, add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 3 minutes, taking care not to burn or apply too much colour

2. Add the spice mix and cook for a minute or so, until the flavours start to release. Add a little more oil if you have to.

3. Add the Chipotle chillies and sauce and cook for another minute

4. Add the vinegars, raise the heat and reduce by around 3/4- until the harshness has gone from the smell

5. Add the fruit juice, reduce by half or more- consistency should be just starting to thicken a little

6. Add the mustard, soy, honey, cilantro and tomato passata. Cook for around 20 minutes, or until it becomes sufficiently thickened. Check flavour throughout, adding salt, sugar and additional spices to taste. If it needs a little more acidity, a drop or two of vinegar to taste, also.Read more