This is what I’ll be putting on my pork ribs this Labor Day weekend. It’s quick and easy to make, as barbecue sauces go. (Barbecue purists beware: File this one under “halfway-homemade,” since we’re starting with ketchup.)

This is a great all-purpose barbecue sauce. It’s sweet and spicy. It’s thick but not too thick, which helps create a nice crust when you lacquer on a few layers. The onions and peppers all but dissolve during cooking if you dice them small enough, so you wind up with a very smooth sauce.

The alcohol in the bourbon will cook off, leaving you with a distinctive tang that’s not overpowering. However, since it’s a main ingredient, make sure you use a bourbon that you like. As it simmers, the flavor is only going to become more concentrated.

This sauce is fairly hot. For more or less heat, fidget a little with the amount of cayenne. There should be more than enough salt from the ketchup, but do taste and adjust the seasoning as you go.

Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

2 Tsp. olive oil
1 Tsp. butter
2 cups yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
2 Tbls. dry mustard
1 Tbls. chili powder
1 Tbls. smoked paprika
2 Tbls. cayenne
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups bourbon
2 Tbls. molasses

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the olive oil and saute the onion, garlic, and bell pepper on medium heat until soft.

Lower the heat a little and add the dry mustard, chili powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, and brown sugar. Saute for a few minutes to start melting the sugar and blend all the dry spices together well. Stir constantly, as you don’t want the sugar to even remotely burn.

Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, bourbon, and molasses. Whisk slowly until they’re well incorporated.

Raise heat back up to medium and bring the sauce up to a simmer. Cover the pot (to save your stove top from splatters) and crack the lid (so steam can escape).

Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until thick.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups of sauce. Keeps for roughly a month in the fridge.

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Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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All that talk about cocktail gear a few days ago started to make my mouth water for a juicy cocktail or two to toast the end of summer.

Now, it’s been raining in Boston for weeks, and my mint patch is absolutely thriving. This means one thing: It’s the perfect time for mint juleps.

My dear friend the Lady Otter reminded me of this fabulous drink when she asked me to plant some mint for her at the beginning of the summer. She brought me two tiny Kentucky Colonel Mint plants, the traditional mint used in this cocktail. In the last few months, they’ve taken over the front yard:

So, what exactly is a julep?
A julep is a cocktail with liquor and sugar, served with ice and garnished with mint. So, while most folks are familiar with the mint julep, this means that the ubiquitous mojito that we all started drinking with abandon a few years ago is also a julep, made with rum.

Juleps are said to have originated in the South and are drunk at the Kentucky Derby. They’re traditionally served in silver or pewter cups, or more popularly in a collins glass.

Mint juleps are refreshing and dangerously easy to drink. Here’s how to make one. (Or two, or three…)

A Proper Mint Julep

10 mint leaves
2 sugar cubes
2 oz. bourbon
crushed ice

Put the mint and sugar into a collins glass. Muddle them together until the sugar cubes are completely crushed and the mint is bruised. (Muddling releases the flavor and glorious aroma of the mint leaves.)

If you don’t have an actual muddler, use the back of a bar spoon or the end of a wooden spoon. We actually use the end of a small rolling pin.

Fill the glass halfway with crushed ice. Add the bourbon and stir with a spoon to mix well.

Add more crushed ice til the glass is full. Garnish with a few sprigs of mint and enjoy.



***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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Boston has been cold and rainy the last few days, and it’s making me want to bake. Here’s one of my favorite pound cakes. It’s ridiculously rich and bourbon-y.

A note on the coffee and booze in the recipe: It doesn’t matter what kind you use, but it should be something you wouldn’t mind drinking.

Drunken Chocolate Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups brewed coffee or espresso, cold
1/2 cup bourbon
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 lb. butter
6 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
2 eggs
1 Tbls. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 Tbls. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Before you start
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 10-inch bundt pan really well (this one likes to stick if you don’t) and set aside. If you don’t have a 10-inch bundt, you can use a 9-inch cake pan, just keep a good eye on it when it’s baking, as your timing might be a little different.

Mix the coffee, bourbon, and sugar together and set aside.

Make the batter
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. (Don’t have a double boiler? Improvise one with a stainless steel bowl set atop a pot of boiling water.)

Add the bourbon mixture to the melted butter and chocolate. Stir to combine until it’s even in consistency.

Beat the eggs and vanilla together. Temper the eggs with the chocolate: Add spoonfuls of the hot chocolate to the eggs to bring their temperature up slowly (otherwise they’ll scramble). When the egg/chocolate mixture is nice and hot, add it back to the double boiler. Stir to mix well.

Transfer the egg/chocolate mixture to a large bowl. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

Bake away
Pour the batter into your well-greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan on the counter for about 20 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack.

Serve as is, or frost with cream cheese frosting, if you like.

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