Peach Mustard BBQ Sauce

It's that grillin' time of year! Who doesn't enjoy being out in the yard or on your deck with man's best summer friend, the grill? Of course, here in South Carolina our best friend can be used almost year round. It's just more fun when the weather is right and the sun stays up a little longer. And remember, in the South we are grillin' or cookin' out, not barbequeing. In the South, Barbeque is a Noun not a Verb! Something you eat, not something you do. 

I want to share a recipe with you that we use in our catering business. We have not used it yet at our restaurant, RB's Bodacious Bistro, because we sell so much Pulled Pork BBQ with our Sweet Heat vinegar and tomato sauce and our Carolina Bold Mustard sauce. The recipe I'm sharing with you is for a Pork Loin or Tenderloin. You can also use this recipe with Chicken, Duck, or Veal.

When catering a Cocktail Reception or something considered upscale, we usually prepare Pork Tenderloin. If we are catering a Luncheon or grilling at home, my wife Rachel and I use Pork Loin. The Tenderloin takes more prep time because we have to trim the Silverskin, a tough membrane that covers most of one side of the Tenderloin. A Pork Loin is ready to go right out of the packaging. It has a pretty thick fat cap but we leave the cap on because it cooks down anyway and gives the Pork  some more flavor. We can cook the Loin whole or slice chops from it. The fact that both the Loin and Tenderloin are boneless is a plus.

Now for the Sauce.

Our Peach Mustard BBQ Sauce is a hearty sauce. It is thicker and pretty powerful. Not something I would enjoy on my pulled Pork. It has Whole Grain Mustard and Dijon Mustard in it so the sauce has strong flavor. You add Bourbon at the end to give it a pwerful kick. I'm giving you the recipe that we use for catering so it will give you some leftover sauce to use at a later date.

1              Cup        unsalted Butter

2/3          Cup        Minced Onion

1              Tea         Garlic, Minced

1              Cup        Cider Vinegar

2.5          Cup        Whole-Grain Mustard

1 ¼         Cup        Dijon Mustard

4              Cup        Peach Preserves

1/3          Cup        Bourbon

2              TBL       Kosher Salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the vinegar and boil until almost completely reduced and the mixture looks like wet sand, about 4 minutes. Whisk in both mustards and the jam or preserves. Simmer, whisking, until jam melts, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the bourbon and salt.

Cook's Note: The bourbon is stirred in at the end--uncooked--to give a genuine jolt to the sauce.

This is a thick sauce. Take a portion of the sauce and put in a separate bowl to use in basting. You will be using a basting brush dipped into the sauce several times. The basting sauce will be contaminated with the raw pork juices on the basting brush. You can clean the basting sauce after you have finished basting by boiling the basting sauce. Make sure you clean the basting brush also before using again.

We baste the meat and then sear on the grill. Because of the sugar (jam or preserves) in the sauce, it will burn a little bit. If you are using Tenderloin, you can finish on the grill. If you are using a thick Loin, you may want to finish in a 350 degree oven.

After you have finished cooking baste the meat again with the clean basting sauce or some of the original sauce you made. 

Let the meat rest for around 10 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to return to the center of the meat.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

If you are ever in Columbia, SC, come see us at RB's Bodacious Bistro at the Bank of America Plaza. 1901 Main Street Columbia, 29206. 803-251-0303.

Great Grillin'

Bill Gause

wgause2285@aol.com