Mama's Southern-style Barbecue Sauce. Sweet!

Barbecue sauces across the United States are as varied and different as folks' accents.  In the Deep South of Mississippi we like ours sweet.  Here in Leakesville, there's none any sweeter or better than Mama's.

Mama can't remember where she got the recipe.  Her best recollection is of an old cookbook that was Grandma's.  Grandma didn't make this sauce, though, only Mama.  She's made it for as long as I can remember.  And I've made it for as long as The Fellows can remember.  It's a fambly tradition.

Here's what you need:

 Three medium or two large onions
Garlic to taste
Brown sugar
Worcestershire sauce
Vinegar
Catsup

Finely dice the onions and put in a very large non-reactive pot.

I love lots of onions in this sauce.  This isn't a place for sweet onions either;

they'll cook to nothing without flavoring anything.

Use yellow or white onions.

Add garlic, finely minced or pressed, to the pot of onions.

I've had this Pampered Chef garlic press for a whiiiiile.

It doesn't have a readily affordable equal. 

Add three (yes three) cups firmly packed brown sugar.

 I really prefer dark brown sugar in barbecue sauce

but didn't have any on hand and wasn't going

to The Pig to purchase any.  Use what you have, right?

Add one half cup vinegar or pickle juice.

I usually have sweet pickle juice on hand just for barbecue sauce.

Not wanting to sacrifice any from a jar of pickles, red wine vinegar

was used instead.  Dill pickle juice is good here, too!

Add one half cup of Worcestershire sauce.

I'm not a brand name label consumer for most things.  There is,

however, only one Worcestershire sauce used in this house:

Lea & Perrins.  Others are too hot, too tart, too weak...

Pay the extra cents for the good stuff when it comes to

Worcestershire sauce.  It's worth it.

And most importantly:

Add a big can of catsup.

Is there any food can not shrinking while the price remains fixed?

This isn't a gallon of catsup at all!  Brand doesn't matter here. 

Stir it all in the big pot.

Place on low heat, stirring often to avoid sticking or scorching.

I don't know why the crock pot wasn't used tonight.

I guess with all the rain from Isaac and the beginnings of cabin fever,

it was good to be busy tending a pot.

Cook for almost two hours on low heat or until onions are fully cooked and sauce is almost standing-spoon thick.  It will continue to thicken some upon cooling.

Pour into jars or bowls or even leave it in the pot and let cool on the counter.

Tadadaaaa!

It'll be good in the refrigerator for upward of a month, maybe longer.  It doesn't last much past that around here;  not because it's spoiled, but because of getting used.

This isn't a sauce to have on the meat when  it's put on the grill.  The tomato base and brown sugar will burn in a heart beat!  When the meat is almost fully cooked, start basting with it, turning often to create layers of grilled sweetness right on the meat.  It's good for everything:  beef, pork, chicken, sausage, hot dogs, hamburgers, catfish.  Well, maybe not catfish...

Serve it on the side with brisket.  Use it for pulled pork.  You won't be disappointed.

Y'all enjoy!

Hummus a la Havard aka Humdinger Hummus aka Rich Fletcher's Roasted Pepper Hummus (Evolved Version)

Okay.  You know how I told you from the beginning to make a recipe your own?  Welllll... I didn't mean to take Rich Fletcher's hummus and turn it into a different sort of larrupin' (rhymes with terrapin but has nothing to do with turtles) Southern dip, but that's exactly what happened.  Unintentionally, of course.

 I wasn't going to tell 'bout the mistake made in the processing of the hummus because I felt silly about it (I should have known to start with less and add more if necessary) but that'd almost be untruthful.  While I am less than truthful at times (embellished facts, perhaps?), I'm certainly NOT untruthful when it comes to food and recipes.

Anyways.  I had seen Rich's post on roasted bell pepper and garlic hummus last week.  It looked like most any other recipe for roasted pepper/garlic hummus except, and that's a BIG except, he used Worcestershire sauce instead of lemon juice.  "What brilliance!" I thought then (and know now).  I don't know why I hadn't ever thought of it!  I've always liked Worcestershire sauce, it being one of the few constant flavor additives ever-present in Mama's kitchen.  Why!  I like it so much that Lee and Perrins are my Fellows' godfathers (embellished fact).  When I saw it in Rich's hummus recipe I knew there was a batch of the Middle Eastern staple coming to a CuisinArt in my kitchen soon.  This evening it hit the blades running...

I've been baking all afternoon, my mind busy with the stuff of busy-ness and trying not to think about the impending dental appointment at the dawn of crack eight in the morning  I wish y'all could come in the back door, sit down at the kitchen table, and enjoy the scent of baking done

and continuing.

 It smells like a child's birthday cake dream.

It's a good evening to have something to munch on.  Like hummus...

This is what you'll need:

See those Nut-Thins?  They're almond/rice crackers.  I was excited to see them on the shelf of the Pig until I ate one and realized they were nutified rice wafers.  Not something I'm likely to spend $3.09 on for four ounces again.  Roasted bell peppers, roasted garlic (I make my own in that jar on top of the peppers {I don't make it IN the jar, the jar is what it's put in when made}), chili oil, olive oil, garbanzo beans, Worcestershire sauce, and coarse sea salt are the ingredients.

Open the garbanzo beans and drain, reserving a half cup of the liquid.

A half cup?  Mayree!  Isn't that a bit much and why do you use the liquid anyways?  Yes, Smart Folks.  It was too much by a LOT and I use the drained liquid to start processing the hummus.  I like very smooth hummus.  If I use olive oil in the beginning of processing, it takes a LOT of oil (cause the garbanzos keep soaking it up) and the end texture is more like peanut butter than hummus.  If I use a bit of the liquid they're canned in, I get that smooth texture and THEN add the olive oil.

Everything is going into the CuisinArt, so dump it in as it's measured.

Garbanzo beans, 1/2 cup liquid, two tablespoons roasted garlic paste,

one very large roasted bell pepper (almost a cup's worth!),

one fourth cup tahini,

and two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce.

 

Process to desired smoothness and add two tablespoons of olive oil

and one tablespoon of chili oil!

This should have been the last step BUT guess what?  It was too soupy!  One half cup of the liquid was too much in the beginning!  What to do, what to do???  It tastes awesome at this point, the hot chili oil giving the hummus an extraordinary heat that won't burn up your palate but keeps your tongue warm while you're eating it.  It's delicious!  But it's runny:  NOT the way I like it at all!  Hmmmmmmmm... I should've bought two cans of garbanzos but I didn't.  I did have a couple of cans of other beans:  black, navy, and butterbeans.  Black beans?  In hummus?  An exceptional idea but not this evening.  Navy beans?  Nope.  Those are emergency rations.  Butterbeans?  Welllllll... Let me think about the flavors and textures for a while...

I cleaned up the dishes thinking about it.

And then I opened, drained, and added a can of butterbeans to the hummus.  Incredible!!!  The hull added the same texture to the hummus that home-ground cornmeal does to cornbread!  There's that little bit of husk or shell or whatever-it's-called in it, giving the teeth something to do while the tongue enjoys smoothness!

 It made a bunch, too.  I've plenty to share.

OH!  Don't forget to put a sprinkle of coarse salt on it when serving.  I really really like using coarse salt to finish.  Biting into a grain of it is life affirming.  I love it!

Rich Fletcher's Unintentionally ReWorked Roasted Pepper and Garlic Hummus ingredients are:
1 can garbanzo beans, drained with 1/2 cup liquid reserved
1 can butterbeans, drained
1 very large roasted bell pepper (or as much as you like)
2 tablespoons roasted garlic (paste)
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chili oil

Y'all saw it put together.  Remember, it's NOT rocket science.  I fixed the hummus and am tickled pink with the Southernized (don't tell me butterbeans aren't Southern - they call them baby limas every where else!) dish.  Most of the time, unless something is burned to a crisp or transformed into a non-Newtonian liquid or laid out on the floor and beyond salvaging, it can be fixed somehow.  Now go. And do likewise!