a spicy barbecue sauce with bourbon and apple

We love a good barbecue sauce here at Messy Benches. Being the big barbecue family we are we are always on the look out for new ideas. After seeing an idea for a bourbon sauce on social media Marina suggested I get making. So I did.

The idea of using apples and bourbon came from an apple sour cocktail Marina likes to make which is simply a mix of bourbon, apple juice and soda. I also took some inspiration from Curtis Stone’s version of an apple bourbon sauce.

In our opinion a good BBQ sauce is sweet, spicy and tangy with a tomato base. The sweetness for this sauce comes from brown sugar and apples. There is a bit of heat in this recipe with cayenne pepper, paprika and mustard powder. The tangy flavour is drawn from apple cider vinegar, bourbon and fish sauce.

ingredients

• 2 shallots
• 2 garlic cloves
• 20g olive oil
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 100g brown sugar
• 80g bourbon
• 220g chicken stock
• 220g apple cider vinegar
• 200g tomato passatta
• 140g tomato paste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 medium sized Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and finely diced)

directions

for stovetop

1. Finely chop the shallots and garlic and saute in oil over a medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes until slightly golden.
2. Add cayenne, paprika, mustard, onion, salt and pepper and stir until combined.
3. Add bourbon, and vinegar and simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to almost boiling then reduce and simmer until the sauce thickens, roughly 25 minutes.
5. Allow the sauce to cool slightly before transferring to a food processor and blend until smooth.
6. Enjoy your apple bourbon BBQ sauce!

for Thermomix

1. Add shallots and garlic to TM bowl and chop for 4 seconds, speed 7.
2. Add oil to TM bowl and cook for 100 degrees, 3.5 minutes, speed 1.
3. Add cayenne, paprika, mustard, onion, salt and pepper and mix for 30 seconds, speed 1.
4. Add bourbon and vinegar and cook on varoma, 3 minutes, speed 1, MC off.
5. Add sugar, stock, vinegar, passatta, tomato paste, fish sauce and apples and cook on varoma, 25 minutes, speed 1, MC on.
6. Blend for 30 seconds, speed 9.
7. Enjoy your apple bourbon BBQ sauce!

If you enjoy our apple bourbon BBQ sauce then have a look at our espresso BBQ sauce.