Balsamic BBQ Sauce

I finished the third chapter of the manuscript — the late spring chapter, the one about planting and proposal and the uncertainty of waiting for things to take root. It's the chapter I rewrote three times and nearly cut twice and now like best of all. I sent it to Sarah Olenick and she responded within two days with notes that were specific and generous and pointed me toward two sentences I'd been avoiding writing, both of which are now in the text and are probably the truest things in the draft.

Working with an editor is different from working alone. You think you're writing a sentence and she shows you what you actually wrote, which is sometimes the same thing and sometimes something considerably more honest. I told Tom about it and he said: "That's why you need an editor. Not to fix your mistakes — to show you what you meant."

Patrick read the chapter on Sunday morning. He didn't say anything right away — he went out to the barn, which is what he does when something moves him, and then he came back about a half hour later and poured himself a second coffee and said "you wrote about your grandmother's garden." I hadn't consciously known that while I was writing it, but he was right. He has a way of naming what's in a thing that I don't always have myself.

The month ended with a coolness that came down off the mountains overnight — not cold, just a reminder that August doesn't last forever. I pulled the blanket off the foot of the bed for the first time in six weeks. Mariposa paced the fence line for about an hour before settling, reading the air for whatever it was telling her. She's getting better about trusting the fence to hold.

Gazpacho this week — cold tomatoes from the garden that have been accumulating faster than I can cook them, blended with cucumber and bell pepper and garlic and a long pour of good olive oil. Chilled in the refrigerator and eaten on the porch with bread for dinner. Patrick declared it "not a meal" with the full authority of a man who grew up in a culture where meals were cooked. I gave him a grilled cheese alongside it and we didn't argue further.

The gazpacho was for me — cool and herby and exactly what I wanted after a week of hard writing and good news. But I’ve learned that a household runs better when the person who grew up eating cooked meals gets something he recognizes as dinner, and this balsamic BBQ sauce has become my way of honoring that unspoken agreement. The garden tomatoes that don’t make it into the blender end up here, simmered down with balsamic and brown sugar into something Patrick will put on anything I set in front of him. It’s summer’s last insistence, concentrated and sweet.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 12 (about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

1 cup fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

Saute the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook for 4–5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn.
Add the tomatoes and paste. Stir in the chopped fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook for 3–4 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon, until the mixture begins to thicken slightly.
Build the sauce. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Add the brown sugar, smoked paprika, dry mustard, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Stir well to combine.
Simmer and reduce. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 15–18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
Blend if desired. For a smooth sauce, carefully transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pan and taste for seasoning, adjusting salt or sugar as needed.
Cool and store. Let the sauce cool to room temperature before transferring to a jar or airtight container. Refrigerate for up to two weeks. Sauce thickens further as it cools.

Nutrition (per serving)

Balsamic BBQ Sauce — When the Tomatoes Come In Faster Than You Can Use Them