This BBQ sauce hit all the right notes. It had the right level of heat, it was tangy, sweet, sour with just a hint of smokiness. It also came together really quickly, contrary to my regular BBQ sauce reserved for ribs that cooks for a longer time.
This will make about 1 cup of BBQ sauce.
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp strong coffee
1 Tbsp grain mustard
2 Tbsps Bourbon
2 Tbsps Worcestershire sauce
2 tsps honey
2 tsps rice wine vinegar
1 Jalapeño pepper, whole, pricked all over with a fork
Measure all of the ingredients except the pepper into a saucepan. Mix together well and then add the jalapeño.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. As soon as the sauce has boiled, turn the heat down to low and cook for 10 minutes, again stirring from time to time, to let the flavors marry and the sauce to thicken.
Check the sauce throughout cooking time and remove the jalapeño as soon as the sauce has attained the heat that you want. I have found that pricking it and cooking it whole releases heat in a more subtle manner than if you slice it and add it to the sauce. It also better allows you to control the heat.
That is pretty much it. This is excellent on chicken and buttermilk biscuit sandwiches but also on pork chops or as a quick BBQ sauce.
Inspiration recipe, here.