Pickin' Ppears!

[CouesWhitetail]

Any of you collect prickly pears to juice?  My husband and I went out last night and gathered several.  He juices them and then uses the juice in an amazing BBQ sauce and also to make a Prickly Pear IPA (both of which I had yesterday from prior batches).   We also use the juice in smoothies or in margaritas.  

We use metal tongs to pick them and desert broom branches to brush off the spines before putting them in a bucket.  

Perfect temps last evening and gorgeous almost full moon came up just before sunset.  Made for a wonderful evening.  tonight my husband will be brewing beer under the full moon

 

[win71]

Prickly pear also makes some pretty good wine

Dan  

[Big Browns]

Looks delicious!

[muledeerarea33?]

I haven’t picked yet this year but I make syrup out of the juice that’s very tasty. If I get enough they’ll be fermented and boiled and turned  into a 90proof dessert.

[Little Creek Calls]

What is his recipe for the BBQ sauce? It looks and sounds great. We juiced some a few weeks ago and I still have some frozen juice in the freezer.

[CouesWhitetail]

1 hour ago, Little Creek Calls said:

What is his recipe for the BBQ sauce? It looks and sounds great. We juiced some a few weeks ago and I still have some frozen juice in the freezer.

 

It changes a little every time, but the basic idea is to boil down the juice until it's kind of thick (but watch it because it can burn if boiled down too far).  He says be careful and just simmer the juice to thicken it up.  If you boil it, the color sometimes changes and you really want to keep that cool color.  So just simmer, not hard boil.  And then he mixes in some cheap bbq sauce (Safeway had some Jack Daniels bbq sauce on sale for 50% off so I stocked up for him) from the store and then adds a bunch of different spices.  He won't tell me exactly what he uses!  but its a wide variety of dried peppers and it gives it a great depth of flavor.  this last batch I think he also added some apple butter that someone had given us and that added another layer of flavor!  I could just eat it straight and be happy!  He says he uses garlic, a little habenero, some Peri Peri (an african pepper), and whatever other spices he feels like throwing in.  I keep telling him that he should bottle it and sell it!  Everyone I know that has tried it has totally loved it.  

[dmoto]

Here's an apricot chile BBQ sauce that I make to use with spare ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, etc. I'll try and sub out the apricot with the reduced prickly pear juice.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 cloves of finely minced garlic
1 1/4 cups apricot preserves 
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 can of Hatch green chiles
1 tablespoon finely chopped chipotles in adobo plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. 
Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic 
and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add apricot preserves, ketchup, honey, vinegar, soy sauce, 
Worcestershire sauce, Hatch chiles, chipotles, adobo sauce, 
and mustard and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce 
heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has 
thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.

Puree sauce with an immersion blender, or transfer sauce to the 
jar of a regular blender, and process until smooth. Season with 
salt and pepper to taste. Let cool to room temperature, transfer 
to a jar or container, and refrigerate until ready to use; sauce 
can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks

[Goldfinger78]

Prickly pear ipa sounds amazing. Very jealous.