Roasted Rhubarb Catsup

This morning while catching up on Paul's podcasts I listened to Wishes - Part 1 where Paul started off goofing about catsup with Jocelyn and it got me googling rhubarb catsup recipes.  I've got a thing for rhubarb...I have 12 varieties so far from family members, friends, the national collection, wherever they offer themselves.  Interesting side note, rhubarb is believed to have first entered the United States in my home state of Maine.  But I think I love it because of happy childhood memories of eating it at my Italian grandfather's house while sitting under his giant apple tree.  Anyhow, I digress!  I found this recipe for roasted rhubarb catsup and thought I'd give it a whirl.  My rhubarb isn't quite ready yet outside, but I still had a few pounds in the freezer from last year to use.

I didn't have celery seeds on hand, so I picked some tender young lovage shoots and grabbed a handful of spring garlic greens growing nearby to use in place of the garlic cloves (garlic grows everywhere at my place because every time they make bulbils I throw them around everywhere).

The lovage and garlic leaves made it pretty green, didn't help that my rhubarb wasn't very red, so I added a Tbsp of beet powder and ended up with this result:

The web page I got it from describes it like such:  

"It has layers upon layers of flavors. Sweetness, spices, substance...it's all here.
Dare I add it's pretty sexy too?
As sexy as a sauce made from petioles of oxalic acid can be."

Hmm....not sure I'd go with sexy....but it is quite attractive!  I think it will make a to die for BBQ sauce and have to try that next.

BBQ sauce. I like that thought. Mine are not quite ready to start harvesting either but have some in the freezer. BBQ sauce sounds like a unique use for that.

In the process of making the ketchup recipe. More or less. BBQ sauce with ingredients normally on hand is the goal. The rhubarb, onion, & garlic combination is amazing though. At this point it could become a tasty verde enchilada sauce too.

Stumbled across this article following a rabbit hole tonight. It's an interesting read. My favorite part ... "if it ain't got smoke, it ain't got taste." Wonder if he/she ever tried mesquite wood? Yum.

History of Chicago BBQ