Actually, this works well on birds, pigs, cows, turkeys, tofus — anything you have roaming around the farm and want to slaughter, slice and serve.
President Johnson and his family were good ol’ Texas folk. Up here in the North, we think of barbecue sauce as a sweet, thick condiment akin to a browner, sweeter, smokier ketchup.
Not down there, y’all.
Buttery and spicy and acidic; THOSE are the hallmarks of a good down-home bar-bee-kyoo. And it’s usually thin enough that it can really soak into meat, which further allows it to tenderize and infusicize and flavortize even the cheapest, slow-cooked cuts of meat.
I can’t wait to use this in a pulled pork dish, which of course I’ll report here in full. But keep this one handy for a my next “Meet the Lady” dish, and make plenty to refrigerate or freeze and keep on hand.
I did modify it with a bit of thickening so it can be used more easily and with less need for something to sop it up (read: BISCUITS), but it’s pretty true to the Lady’s old standard, and once you taste it you’ll say “oh… NOW I get it!” and it will quickly become a totally different animal in your culinary vernacular than Open Pit or Heinz.
1 Stick unsalted butter
1/2 Cup tomato ketchup
1/2 Cup worcestershire sauce (or try our Vegan Worcestershire)
1/2 Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 Cup lemon juice
2 Cloves garlic, crushed or chopped (or 2 tsps. jarred)
Dash of Tabasco sauce or dried cayenne pepper, to taste
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. cold water
In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
In a separate bowl or liquid measure, combine remaining ingredients except flour and water.
When butter is melted, whisk in liquid mixture, raise heat, and bring to a boil.
Combine flour with water and mix into smooth paste. Reduce boiling sauce to medium heat, whisk in flour mixture, and allow sauce to boil 1 minute.
Serve immediately, or remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature, then store refrigerated in an air-tight container.
Think of this as something you can use as a marinade (try chicken cutlets, pork tenderloin, or steak, left soaking in the sauce overnight in the refrigerator) and then the final sauce (if you use your marinade as the finished serving topping, ALWAYS cook it to the boil to remove any hazard of food-borne contamination after the meat is removed and cooked). Or add 1/4 – 1/2 cup and some crushed white bread or crumbs to a pound of ground beef for a supercharged burger, meatloaf or meatballs.
Or just put a little pitcher of this out alongside your ketchup and mustard at a picnic or barbecue, and see which topping your guests rave about.
