BBQ Sauce

Sun is shining

the weather is sweet!

When the sun starts shining there is always that one song that pops into my head: Sun is shining from Bob Marley. The other thing that pops into my head is: BBQ time!!!!

Barbecue is something everyone loves. And a barbecue sounds easy... light a fire, put on a grill, throw on some meat, scorch it and eat it. And that, my friends, is grilling! Even if you do it on a thing called a barbecue, you are grilling. Barbecuing is something different, a barbecue needs time!

If you want to have a decent bbq you need to invest some time in it. Like I said, it is not about throwing on some meat, grill it for 5 minutes and done.

The word barbecue apparently derives from the french words "barbe"(beard) and "cul"(ass) or "queue"(tail), depends on how old your audience is when you tell the story! This is because when families or villages had a feast they put a sheep, pig or any other animal on a stick and slowly let it grill along the fire, the stick went in through the mouth and came out through the... well you know, hence the word barbecue.

But back to cooking. Like I said, a bbq needs time. Why? Because the slower you cook your meat, the softer and tastier is will be! Of course steak and sausages can be grilled a la minute, but I'm talking about barbecuing whole turkeys, a nice mutton leg, a 5kg sirloin or a rack of ribs! These things need time. The good thing about slow-cooking meat on your barbecue is that you'll have a nice smoky taste.

Let's recap: grilling is on an open fire, no lid and the meat is directly above the heat source. Barbecuing is more time-consuming. And your meat needs to be close to, but not directly on top, of you heat source, in a closed environment (a bbq with a cover i mean!). 

So if you are a real grill- and bbq- lover, the Oklahoma grill is a  perfect thing to have.

When having a barbecue it is best to start lighting your fire a few hours before you've planned to eat. When your fire is hot, put on your meat and cover it. But make sure your meat is NOT directly on top of the fire! A perfect way to do this, on a smaller bbq with lid is to put an aluminum tray on top of the the coals under your meat so the heat and smoke will come from the sides and the top (because op the cover). For a smoky flavor you can marinate wood chips in whiskey or something like that, or you can buy wood chips for smoking in your store and put them on the hot coals.

For sirloin, sausages, fish, ... the ideal temperature is about 150°C to 165°C. If you want to have it more smoked you should keep the temperature around 95°C to 100°C, this is perfect for preparing turkey, chicken, ribs, and so on. But keep in mind that it will take a few hours before the meat is ready!

How you prepare your meat is up to you! You can season your meat with salt, pepper and other herbs, marinade it or just have it nature.

Personally, I like to marinade my meat before cooking it. It gives the meat such a great taste!

And since marinating is the first step of preparing a bbq, I will give you a recipe for a BBQ sauce which, besides dipping your grilled meat in, is also perfect for marinating!

Next time I'll give you a recipe for a nice piece of meat on the barbecue!

BBQ Sauce

Ingredients: (for approximately 1l)

• 2 chopped onions
• 3 to 4 cives of garlic
• 5 big juicy tomatoes
• 4-5 tbs oliveoil
• 1 dl worcestershire sauce
• 1 dl whiskey
• 4-5 tbs maple syrup
• 40gr mustard
• 4 dl ketchup
• 1 tbs tabasco (add more or less according to taste) or freshly chopped red peppers
• 1 lime (for it's juice)

Preparation:

Stew the onions, chopped garlic and chopped tomatoes for about 15 to 20 minutes. If you are using freshly chopped red peppers add them to stew with the other vegetables.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together, and after 15 to 20 minutes add them to the vegetables.  Let it stew again for 20 to 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper if you want (I don't do that anymore).

You can either serve this sauce hot or cold. If you want you can mix it, siefe it or leave it like it is (which I like to do).

This sauce goes perfect with grilled meat or fish, with deep fried snacks, french fries, ... or serve it with our eggs and bacon at breakfast.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

June 04, 2013