Test Kitchen: Making Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce

By Dru Chai

It's always fun to experiment in the kitchen, even for backyard smokers and grillers. I'm sure a lot of BBQ enthusiasts use the same rub or sauce over and over, because let's face it -- most people are too comfortable (or lazy) to stray outside the norm of what they like. Take BBQ sauce for instance. It's just so easy to just go to the market and pick up one of a dozen or so brands and types of BBQ sauce and call it a day. No fuss and no extra work.

I'll admit, out of the 2 years since I delved into the world of low and slow BBQ, I probably only tried making BBQ sauce from scratch a total of 6 times. That's definitely not very many, compared to the dozens of smoked meat that I produced. Making BBQ sauce is fun, no doubt. But it just doesn't have the sexy appeal of smoking a brisket, pork shoulder, or ribs -- drawing the oohs and ahhs from those waiting to taste the result of your hours of work.

When tasting BBQ sauce, it's a more subtle and subdued reaction -- like "oh that's good," "love the tang," or "that's got a kick to it." That was the reaction I got when I recently made some bourbon whiskey BBQ sauce. I was lucky enough to have some Four Roses Bourbon (Single Barrel) at my fingertips, so I decided to whip up a batch of BBQ sauce laced with the bourbon whiskey.

I put my homemade BBQ sauce back inside the bottle

Using alcohol in recipes can be a tricky thing. If not done correctly, it can overpower or even ruin whatever it is that you're making. I've see alcohol used in all sorts of recipes, but I think it's best used in sauces. Alcohol has such a strong flavor, that it needs to be reduced down -- whether a lot or a little -- but just enough so that it's not the dominating flavor. Think of a red wine reduction, for example. Alcohol should be an accent, or compliment to your recipe.

The ingredients that I used for my whiskey bourbon BBQ sauce:

- Water, ketchup, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne, paprika, worcestershire, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and of course -- some Four Roses whiskey bourbon.

You can adjust the level of spice by adding red chili flakes, Sriracha, or whatever hot sauce you prefer. One of my favorites is the Tabasco chipotle pepper sauce. I added a few liberal dashes into the BBQ sauce.

So how did the BBQ sauce taste? After immediately mixing all of the ingredients together, it basically tasted like glorified ketchup, to be honest with you. The bourbon whiskey was too strong in flavor and overpowered everything. I felt like I needed some french fries to dip the sauce with. But after letting it simmer on low heat for a few hours, the alcohol burned off a little, and it tasted more like BBQ sauce. I refrigerated it overnight, and the sauce tasted even better the next day. All of the flavors and spices just melded together as one.

It was sweet, tangy, tart, with a little kick at the end. The bourbon whiskey was nice and subtle in the background, and the little heat at the back of the tongue was perfect. I bottled up some of the BBQ sauce back into the Four Roses sample bottle to save for a later use. I've got a versatile BBQ sauce that I can use on just about anything. I'm thinking of trying out some bourbon whiskey BBQ meatballs!

Product Review: Sweet & Spicy Red Pepper Relish by Merchant & Co.

By Dru Chai

On a sleepy weekend afternoons, I love watching reruns on the food or travel channel. It not only makes me drool while taking a nap (TMI?), but the shows provide ideas for recipes. On the Hot Dog Paradise show on the Travel Channel, I will always remember that elderly owner of the SuperDawg restaurant in Chicago telling the audience in a matter-of-fact tone, "Ketchup packets will be provided upon request, however we will NOT apply it." The way he said just made me chuckle.

I bring that story up because the world of condiments plays an important part in food. Depending on which part of the country or world, it's always interesting to see how some condiments are more popular than others. Ketchup and mustard are pretty universal throughout America for hot dogs and burgers. But hey, that can get boring. There's so much more out there in sauces, relishes, and other toppings to give your food some added flavor.

Recently I had the opportunity to try out the sweet red pepper relish from Merchant & Co -- both the original and spicy versions. I'm already a huge fan of green relish on my hot dog (ahem, Costco), and I especially love the bright, neon green relish on the Chicago-style dog. But how would a sweet red pepper relish taste?

Taste
On its own, the original version of the relish had a good amount of sweetness with an ever-so-slight hint of tartness. By looking at the ingredient list, it is no surprise that sugar is the second one listed, followed by apple cider vinegar. The spicy version of the relish includes habanero chile, and only provides a slight kick in the end. On a scale of 1-10 spiciness, I would give it a 2 or 3. As someone who loves spicy foods, I would've liked to see the spice level go up a few notches.

Appearance
The jar and label design is subtle, letting the bright red hue from the relish shine through. As for the relish itself, you can see the freshly diced sweet red bell peppers -- giving it some nice texture on whatever food you choose to place it on. If this red relish were to be used with that neon green relish, watch out -- you would have some Christmas relish on your hands!

Dirty Smoke Rating (4 out of 5 stars)
It should be no surprise that the relish works great on hot dogs and burgers. But I recommend using the relish in place of ketchup or any sweet sauce, as the relish already adds that sweet element. Another would be double the sweetness. On sandwiches, the relish would go great with the smooth and creamy avocado. The sweet and spicy relish is also a nice compliment to contrast some of the smokiness of BBQ grilled meat -- either some chicken or pork chop.