Ask and you Shall receive
Kansas City Classic Barbecue Sauce
Recipe
Yield: 6 cups.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups ketchup (NOT TOMATOE SAUCE, they are different. most supermakets will sell ketchup but tomatoe sauce will still work if you can't get it)
1/2 cup yellow ballpark-style mustard (american mustard)
1/4 to 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
1 cup dark brown sugar (you can use light brown sugar if that's all you have)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
4 medium cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
Optional. If you are cooking indoors, or if your meat does not have a lot of smoke flavor, or if you just want more smoke flavor, you can add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke. (I have done this when cooking in the oven and it works great. Remember when it comes to liquid smoke, a little goes a long way)
About the chili powder. Not all chilli powders are the same. Many of the common grocery store chilli powders are lifeless and dumbed down for the general consumer. Buy your chili powder from a Mexican grocer or online. I used a Chipotle chilli powder and it is so awesome
**About the vinegar. I use a 1/4 cup as I don't like my sauce to tart but if you want it to last longer or you like the stronger flavour then go 1/2 cup. Best thing to do is start with 1/4 cup then taste and adjust slowly to get the taste you like..
About the steak sauce. There are many different brands and they all have different flavor profiles, but what we want here is the meaty depth of savoriness that they call umami, so use whatever you have on hand. also don't go over board with this sauce as it can make or break the end produce.
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. (you don't need this and I have made this sauce without it and with it. Both are nice but with the paste is the next level of nice
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, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Mix them, but you don't have to mix thoroughly.
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 wet ingredients. Simmer over medium heat for 5 - 10 minutes with the lid off to thicken it a bit.
DO NOT STOP STIRRING IT OR IT MAY BURN AT THE BASE AND THE SAUCE WILL GET A BAD TASTE (I learnt this the hard way....)
2) 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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Memphis Dust Recipe
Yield. Makes about 3 cups. (I usually half this recipe and it still does about 8 or 9 big sets of ribs)
I typically use about 1 tablespoon per side of a slab of Pork spare ribs. 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 dump them together.
Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt (yes this is actually a type of salt. Read what I put below about sugar and salt)
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons ground ginger powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemary powder (you can use fresh if you like, but better to use dried if you have it)
About the sugar and salt. they are in the recipe for more than flavor enhancement, they help form the crust (a.k.a. called "the bark" by the pros), an important part of the texture of the surface of ribs and slow smoke roasted pork. 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 crust. There's only about 2 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. I use brown sugar for the flavor and white sugar because it improves the bark. You can substitute table salt, but beware that if you do, you should use about 2/3 as much.
About the rosemary. I know that some people don't like it but trust me, it hides in the background and you will never know it is there. Substitute thyme or oregano if you must, but I think rosemary is the best choice. If you can find ground rosemary, good for you. It's hard to find. So just grind the rosemary leaves in a mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder. It will take 2 to 3 tablespoons of leaves to make 2 teaspoons of powder. If you have it fresh and want to dry it so the rub lasts longer then get a few sticks, remove the leaves and put all the leaves on a flat baking tray and have the oven on low with the fan on high and leave the door open. You will have dry leaves in about an hour or so. just put them in the mortor and pesel (spelling??)
About the paprika. I have used Hungarian paprika before with great results, but last batch I did I used sweet smoked paprika from
www.herbies.com.au with awesome results........When I use the Hungarian paprika I always replace a few tablespoons of it with chipotle powder which gives a great flavour and adds some nice heat. I usually go pretty hard on the chilli powder but remember not everyone like the heat so adjust according to the people that will be eatiing it....
About the ginger. I think it is a very important ingredient. If you don't have any, get some. simple
Do this
1) Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. 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. For ribs that you will not add sauce to, apply the rub thick enough to make a crunchy crust, about 3 tablespoons per side (remember to Skin 'n' Trim the back side). To prevent contaminating your rub with uncooked meat juices, spoon out the proper amount before you start and seal the bottle for future use. 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.
3) Massage the rub into the meat at least an hour before cooking. Better still, rub them up, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate them overnight before cooking.
