Tyler's Ultimate Barbecue Sauce

Folks-
The best barbecue sauce I have ever had was one I made from a recipe I got on Food Network once. That's a TV network I seldom watch, because it makes me want to cook like mad, and that can be an issue. I ran across Tyler's Ultimate one day, and thought the barbecue sauce recipe looked good enough to have me sit in front of the TV with a notepad and the remote for about an hour, reverse engineering the recipe from what he was doing on the TV (since when does a "dash" equal a small bucket of something?)

Since I first worked this recipe out a couple of years ago, I've found alternate ingredients for some of those in his recipe. I'm including both his basic recipe, as well as the alternates in the ingredient listing below. Enjoy!

Tyler's Ultimate Barbecue Sauce (with alternate ingredients tested by Ed)

2 Strips of smoked bacon or 1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke
Large sprig of fresh Thyme or 1 tablespoon dry
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 Large Onion or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2-3 Cloves Garlic- Crushed and skinned or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Cups Ketchup
1/4 Cup Fruit Preserves (Peach, Apricot, or Raspberry have tested well)
1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Cumin
2 Tablespoons Red Wine or Basalmic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Molasses
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Ground pepper to taste

Wrap bacon around fresh thyme and simmer in olive oil. Add other ingredients and simmer 20 minutes.