Here are the recipes for some classic BBQ sauces
1) Classic Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce
Yield: 6 cups.
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup yellow ballpark-style mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons cooking oil or butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 medium cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
1 cup dark brown sugar (you can use light brown sugar if that's all you have)
Optional. If you are cooking your ribs indoors, or if your meat does not have a lot of smoke flavor, or if you just want more, you can add 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke.
About the chili powder. Not all chili powders are created equal. Many of the common grocery store chili powders are lifeless and dumbed down for the Anglo consumer. Buy your chili powder from a Mexican grocer or online.
Secret ingredient. Add 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste. This exotic ingredient isn't really that exotic. It shows up on the ingredient lists of a lot of great BBQ sauces. It has a sweet citrusy flavor and really amps up a sauce. If you can't find it in an Asian grocery, it is available online. Worth looking for.
Do this
1) In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, black pepper, and salt. In a large bowl, mix the ketchup, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire, lemon juice, steak sauce, molasses, honey, and hot sauce.
2) Over medium heat, warm the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute until limp and translucent, about 5 minutes. Crush the garlic, add it, and cook for another minute. Add the dry spices and stir for about 2 minutes to extract their oil-soluble flavors. Add the remaining wet ingredients and then the brown sugar. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes with the lid on.
3) Taste and adjust. Add more of anything that you want a little bit at a time. It may taste a bit vinegary at first, but that will be less obvious when you use it. Strain it if you don't want the chunks of onion and garlic. I prefer leaving them in. They give the sauce a home-made texture. You can use it immediately, but I think it's better when aged overnight. You can store it into clean bottles in the refrigerator for a month or two.
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2) South Carolina Mustard Sauce
Yield. About 2 cups.
Preparation time. 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules or 1 cube crushed with a mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed with a mortar and pestle
2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1 teaspoon powdered onion
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper flakes for mild sauce, 1/2 teaspoon for medium, 1 teaspoon for hot
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups prepared yellow mustard
2/3 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
Do this
1) Dissolve the bouillon in an ounce of water. Set aside.
2) Crush the rosemary leaves in a mortar and pestle and add to a nonreactive one quart bowl. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix.
3) Add the bouillon and the rest of the ingredients and whisk until they are mixed together thoroughly. Let it sit for a an hour in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld. No cooking necessary.
4) Do not use a rub. Mop with Carolina Mop-sauce if you wish. Cook them until ready. Add sauce. Serve extra sauce on the side.
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3) East Carolina Mop Sauce
Yield. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Preparation time. About 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of distilled vinegar (do not use cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons sugar (white, light brown, or dark brown)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
Do this
1) Pour all the ingredients into a jar and shake. Let it sit for at least 12 hours to allow the flavors to meld. A week is better. Mop it on the meat with this sauce with basting brush once every hour while cooking.
2) Take the remaining mop and boil it to sterilize it and give the meat one last splash before serving. To prevent contamination by uncooked meat, make sure to use a clean brush. Serve the sauce in a cruet on the side so your guests can drizzle more on if they wish.
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4) Lexington Dip
Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 cups. Click here to calculate how much you need and for tips on saucing strategies.
Preparation time: About 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 cup distilled vinegar (do not use cider vinegar)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Do this
1) Whisk together all the ingredients and let them sit for at least three hours to allow the flavors to meld. Overnight is better. A week is best. Mop it on the meat with a basting brush once every hour while cooking. A good silicon brush is best. It holds lots of fluid and is easy to clean. A lot of places still use mini string mops, but I think these are to hard to clean and potential sources of food poisoning.
2) Before serving, take the remaining mop and boil it to sterilize it. With a clean brush, to prevent contamination by a brush used on uncooked meat, mop the meat one last time. Serve the sauce in a cruet on the side so your guests can drizzle on more if they wish.
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5) Texas Mop Sauce
Yield. About 5 cups.
Preparation time. 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon of butter *
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup Lone Star beer (or any other lager). Drink any that is left over.
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons steak sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Hot sauce to taste (start with 2 teaspoons of Tabasco sauce for mild heat)
2 cups beef, veal, or chicken stock
Note about the oil. Butter or margarine work fine, but to make it authentic, use rendered beef fat from the fatback of a brisket or use bacon fat.
Do this
1) Mix the paprika, black pepper, chili powder, and cumin in a small bowl.
2) In a one quart saucepan, melt the butter or bacon fat and gently cook the onion over medium heat until translucent.
3) Add the garlic, bell pepper, and the spice mix you made in step (1). Stir, and cook for two minutes to extract the flavors.
4) Add the stock and the rest of the ingredients. Stir until well blended. Simmer on medium for 15 minutes.
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6) Tennessee Whiskey Sauce
Makes. About 2 cups of sauce.
Preparation time. 45 minutes.
Ingredients
2 cups Jack Daniel's Black Label or Bourbon
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
4 tablespoons dark molasses
Do this
1) Taste the whiskey to make sure it is up to your standards. Pour 1 cup of whiskey into a saucepan and set aside the remaining whiskey. Bring the saucepan to a boil and reduce the liquid to about 2 tablespoons. Don't let the alcohol flame. Taste the unused whiskey to make sure it hasn't gone bad.
2) Add 1/2 cup of the whiskey and the other ingredients. Simmer over a low heat for 15 minutes. Use it immediately or bottle it and keep it in the refrigerator. Drink the remaining whiskey.
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7) Louisiana Dippin Sauce
Yield. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Click here to calculate how much you need and for tips on saucing strategies.
Preparation time. 30 minutes to roast the peppers and 10 minutes to assemble
Ingredients
2 large red bell peppers
3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
2 tablespoons of Steen's 100% Pure Cane Syrup or molasses
4 tablespoons distilled vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 pinch table salt
About Steen's. Steen's is made in Louisiana, so it is included for authenticity, but if you can't find Steen's, molasses will do.
Do This
1) Slice the bell peppers in half, strip out the seeds, ribs, and stems, and wash. Place the two halves, skin side down, on a hot grill or skin side up under a broiler until the skin blisters and blackens, about 15 minutes. Place them in a bowl and cover with a plate so steam can loosen the skin. Some folks seal them in a paper bag, and that works fine too. After about 15 minutes, when they cool enough to handle, strip off as much of the skin as possible with a steak knife or just peel it with your fingers. Discard the skin.
2) Turn the heat on the grill down to medium. Peel the garlic cloves and wrap them in foil. Put them on the grill for about 15 minutes or until they are tender.
3) Put the pepper and garlic in a blender and puree. You should get about 1 cup of liquid. If you have more or less pepper juice, adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly.
4) Add the remaining ingredients and liquefy. Taste and adjust the flavors to your preferences. Add more Tabasco if you want it hotter or more syrup if you want it sweeter. Bottle it in a clean jar and refrigerate.
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8) Alabama White Sauce (for chicken ... or coleslaw)
Yield. 1 1/2 cups
Preparation time. 10 minutes
Ingredients
1/4 cup hardwood chips or pellets, or 2 golfball-sized chunks
1 large chicken or 2 Cornish game hens
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon powdered garlic
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely ground cayenne pepper
Do this
1) Whisk together all the ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate in a jar overnight if possible to allow the flavors to meld.
2) Spatchcock or butterfly the bird by cutting the backbone out with heavy scissors and butterflying it by spreading it out flat. To get it really flat, cut out the keel bone in between the breasts. Run a skewer through the both drumsticks and thighs to keep them from flopping around. Fold the wing tips under the wings for the same reason. If you prefer, you can just cut the bird into two halves. Rinse and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper or with a spice mix.
3) Crank up your smoker or prepare the grill for indirect heating. If you are using a charcoal grill, bank the coals to one side. If you are using a multi-burner gas grill turn off all burners except one. If you are using a gas grill with only one burner put a pan on one side of the grill and fill it with water. Place the chicken skin side down on the cooler side of the grill. Put the wood on the heat source. Use a foil packet with wood on a gas grill. Don't overdo the smoke. Nothing will ruin chicken faster than too much smoke.
4) When the skin is golden, flip the bird. Cook until the internal temp of the breast is 165F or until the juices between the thigh and the body are clear. Remove the birds and paint them on all sides generously with the sauce. Let them rest for 5 minutes and serve with a bowl of sauce on the side for dipping.
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9) The classic Memphis Dry Rub
Yield. Makes about 3 cups. I typically use about 1 tablespoon per side of a slab of St. Louis cut ribs, and a bit less for baby backs. Store the extra in a zipper bag or a glass jar with a tight lid.
Preparation time. 10 minutes to find everything and 5 minutes to assemble.
Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
4 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons dried rosemary, ground to a powder
Optional. Add up to 2 tablespoons crushed dried chipotle, cayenne, chili powder, or other hot pepper.
Substitution. Try substituting some smoked paprika for regular paprika. Beware, it is usually a bit hot.
About the sugar and salt. I appreciate the need to reduce sugar and salt in our diets, but they are in the recipe for more than flavor enhancement, they help form the crust (a.k.a. "the bark"), an important part of the texture of the meat. The salt pulls some moisture to the surface to form a "pellicle" and the sugar mixes with the moisture, caramelizes, and also contributes to the bark formation. There's only about two tablespoons of rub to a large slab. Of that about 1 tablespoon is sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you eat half a slab, you're not eating much sugar and salt. I recommend you leave them in. And for those of you who object to white sugar for non-dietary reasons, and use brown sugar instead, you need to know brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added. It is not unrefined sugar.
About the rosemary. If you can only find dried rosemary leaves, you can grind it in a mortar and pestle, or in a coffee grinder.
Do this
1) Mix the ingredients thoroughly. If the sugar is lumpy, crumble the lumps by hand or on the side of the bowl with a fork. If you store the rub in a tight jar, you can keep it for months. If it clumps just chop it up, or if you wish, spread it on a baking sheet and put it in a 250F oven for 15 minutes to drive off moisture. No hotter or the sugar can burn.
2) For most meats, sprinkle just enough on to color it. Not too thick, about 2 tablespoons per side of a large slab. For Memphis style ribs without a sauce, apply the rub thick enough to make a crunchy crust. To prevent contaminating your rub with uncooked meat juices, spoon out the proper amount before you start and seal the bottle for future use.
3) Wrap ribs it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate them overnight before cooking.
Keep your powder dry. To prevent cross-contamination, one hand sprinkles on the rub and the other hand does the rubbing. Don't put the hand that is rubbing into the powder.
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