Outrageously good homemade barbecue sauce with molasses, chili, onions, lemon juice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and bourbon.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
All grill cooks have their own “secret sauce,” but for the most part everyone relies on some type of sugar, something acidic like vinegar, fat — typically butter — and something else to make it special.
It’s got that tart, sweet, salty, rich, and tangy combination that I think all great barbecue sauces need. Use this barbecue sauce with ribs, pulled pork, or even tri-tip.
Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
Note that most (not all) of the bourbon’s alcohol cooks off as the sauce is reduced, leaving behind the bourbon’s distinctive caramel flavor.
ingredients
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1/4 Cup vegetable oillike canola or peanuts
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1/4 Cup butter
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1 chopped chili pepper, such as serrano
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1 Middle yellow or White Oniongrated
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1 Cup Bourbon or Tennessee whiskey
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1/2 Cup Ketchup or tomato sauce
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1/2 Cup lemon juice
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1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
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1/3 Cup dark molasses
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1/3 Cup Worcester sauce
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2 to 3 tablespoon Brown sugar
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Salt, taste
method
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Heat butter and oil:
in a saucepan over medium heat.
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Grate onion:
through the coarse grid of a box grater, or finely chop the onion if you don’t have a grater.
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Add the grated onion and chili to the oil/butter:
mix and cook over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until onions become translucent. You don’t want the onions to color.
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Add the bourbon:
Remove the pan from the heat and add the bourbon. Return to the stove, turn the heat back up to medium-high and simmer the bourbon for 5 minutes.
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Add ketchup, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, molasses, and sugar:
Mix well and bring back to a simmer.
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Cook the sauce for a few minutes to combine the flavors, then taste:
it. Is it salty enough? (It should be from the Worcestershire sauce). If not, add salt. Is it spicy enough? If not, add a little cayenne pepper powder. is it sweet enough If not, add some molasses.
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Let the sauce simmer until it thickens, about 20 minutes:
Keep it on low heat while your ribs cook. Alternatively, you can prepare this sauce ahead of time and reheat it while you cook the meat. It keeps for at least a week in the fridge; I kept my two weeks with no problems.
Links:
Kansas City Barbecue Sauce here on Simply Recipes
Smoky Barbecue Sauce, another Hank favorite
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 338 | calories |
| 17g | Fat |
| 31g | carbohydrates |
| 1g | protein |
