Sauce recipe from Texas cookbook

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

bhawkins

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Hi all,

I know I have not been posting much on the forum. Quite frankly I feel rather intimidated reading most of the posts here. I am not one for being able to totally create a recipe from scratch. While at my wife's grandparent's house over the weekend I found this recipe in one of her cookbooks from Texas. I made some this morning and thought it was pretty good, so I am posting it to see what others think, and to see other's mods to it. My wife's grandmother is Spanish descent born and raised in Ozona Texas. The name of the cookbook is 'Diamonds in the Dessert' from the Ozona ladies. Well here it is....

1\2 cup butter

3 Tablespoons mustard. (wasn't sure if that was dry or prepared so I used prepared)

3 Tablespoons ketchup

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

3 Tablespoons vinegar (used apple cider vinegar)

3 Tablespoons worsty

salt, pepper, hot sauce, garlic, and celery salts (or even powder) to taste.

I also added a bit of chipotle chili powder. Was very careful about the chipotle. I didn't want it to be hot, just have a good flavor. I rather liked this sauce, although the mustard seemed to come through a bit in the end. I currently have it in the fridge to see how it reacts with that much butter in it. That was also a point I wish to ask about. What be a good substitute for the butter? foil juice maybe? Also while in the pan it was a little thinner than I like ,for sandwiches anyway, so what would be the best way to thicken it? let it simmer or add something like corn starch?
 
That sauce sounds great-I have some dry mustard on hand and will give it a try with that.

In the sauces that I make, I just let the sauce simmer and reduce down. Reducing your sauce this way will also concentrate the flavors. Using corn starch can make your sauce appear cloudy. Arrowroot is an excellent thickener and allows the sauce to thicken and remain clear.
 
  BHawkins, welcome. The sauce sounds good. Don't worry about being original for us, if it is original for you, then we like to hear about it. We are all about helping others make great que!

  Mike
 
That sounds good. Don't be intimidated as everybody started out knowing very little about Smoking or Cooking, that's why we are here!

The butter in the recipe is more commonly used for Beef and would be a little fatty for Pulled Pork. You can leave it out. To thicken, a couple of tablespoons of Tomato Paste and some simmering will get the thickness you desire. Corn Starch sets up like Pudding when it cold and is not a top choice for cold sauces.

Dutch...Three Tablespoons of Dry Mustard will give that sauce a potent Bite not unlike Chinese Mustard...You like Hot that will get you there...JJ
 
Chef JJ, it would make sense then since this is a Texas sauce, they are known more for beef. After it has sat in the fridge most all day, the flavors have really blended well. I do not taste the mustard overtone that I did at first. The heat has come in a little. It has also thickened up, probably the butter, and it is kind of a blonde color. It actually reminds me very much of John Boy and Billy's grillin' sauce.(if you are familiar with that). How do you think it would do to take a pint of home canned Roma tomatoes through a blender and use that instead of butter?
 
The Tomatoes will work fine. It will still be somewhat thin so you will need to cook it down. See what you end up with then add more Vinegar or Sugar as needed...JJ
 
Last edited:
Time to update

Made some more sauce yesterday. Playing with the recipe trying to get it right before messing up some meat with it. This time I took a pint jar of home grown and canned Roma tomatoes and drained the water of and set aside. I ran my stick blender through the tomatoes themselves and ended up with a little over a cup of puree so that doubled the recipe. I then proceeded with the recipe as it is, including adding ketchup. (next time I may try to leave the ketchup out and see if it matters). I also used chipotle chili powder to add some heat and  flavor. After i removed it from the stove it still seemed as if something was missing. I added molasses to it and it seemed to really come together then. may also play with cutting back on brown sugar to add molasses and see what happens. I think this will be a decent sauce. Still hoping some of you more experienced people will try it and give some insight on tweaks to try.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky