I have been craving barbecue lately. Funny thing is, I never used to crave it before. I guess when something is just so available like barbecue is in Texas, you don't ever get a hankerin' for it. I'm not quite ready, though, to go all out with a beef brisket. Maybe it's the outrageous price of beef here. Maybe it's my fear of having to talk to the man at the meat counter in Czech. Maybe. Anyway, I came across a recipe for pulled pork sandwiches (Emeril's to be exact - we're on a first-name basis, you know) and decided to try it. The only problem was I wasn't crazy about the barbecue sauce recipe he had paired with the pork. It seemed a little too vinegar-y for me. So I poked around a little more on Food Network's website and found another recipe of Emeril's for barbecue sauce. This recipe was created to be paired with Texas style beef brisket and called for molasses and a lot less vinegar. That's more like it. The only problem was I had no idea where to get molasses in this city or on this continent for that matter. So I went to this site, my saving grace for the last 4 months. It's a thesaurus for cooks and it offers every food substitution imaginable. I thought maybe, just maybe they'd have something that could sub for molasses to get my barbecue sauce close. I never expected the actual thing. It turns out that Black Treacle is the British version of American blackstrap molasses. Perfect!
And Golden Syrup (Light Treacle) is the same thing as cane syrup! Hot dog! What's even better is there just happens to be a British specialty foods store here in Prague and they just happen to carry both kinds of Treacle (as well as Dr. Pepper, Doritos, Campbell's soup, Oreos, and many other American treats - for a pretty penny). Well I'll be! Here I come cornbread and cane syrup!
And now back to the barbecue sauce. It may not be Kraft Spicy Honey (Matt's favorite) but it's pretty dang good. And it'll go just perfect with those pulled pork sandwiches I'm making this weekend. The only thing I would have done differently is to pulse the onions in a food processor before cooking to get a smoother sauce.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 medium yellow onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon dry mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce (Tabasco)
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Please pretend that these onions are minced. Thank you.
Add the ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, paprika, Worcestershire and hot sauce, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and the flavors marry, 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.
Yield: about 1 1/2 cups
*Adapted from Emeril's and Tyler Florence's recipes on foodnetwork.com.
1 comment:
dang i'm coming to your house for some good eatin'! i made barbeque sauce last week too! it wasn't my favorite though-it worked, but not that great. i might have to try this one! looks good!
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