Not Healthy: BBQ Sauce with Canadian Whiskey

In my early twenties I did a fair amount of cheap drinking, like most college students, which often resulted in buying the biggest bottles of the cheapest liquor you could tolerate drinking. Canadian whiskey was a common purchase because it was cheap and easily mixed with cola. For a special occasion Crown was the purchase but often the more economical approach was something like Seagram's 7. (Canadian whiskey has a older reputation as a solid rye-based whiskey but today the Canadian whiskey market is dominated by cheap blended whiskeys.) Not too long ago I found a fairly full handle of Seagram's 7 in the back of the liquor cabinet. It's still good so I didn't want to toss it but at the same time I can't see myself drinking it, even in a state of reminiscence. 

So I scoured the internet and found a few BBQ sauce recipes using this type of whiskey. This recipe is a cobbling together of a few recipes. I tend to use this recipe the most with chicken but it is a decent all purpose sauce. I usually adjust the recipe a little based upon what I am grilling or smoking. A little more mustard for chicken while I cut back the mustard and go sweeter for pork. It's easy to adjust to taste while reducing the sauce to a thicker consistency using the ingredients already used in the recipe. Increase the ketchup for a more tomato-y sauce. Increase the mustard for more mustard flavor/balanced tomato/less sweet. Increase the maple syrup for greater sweetness. Canadian whiskey is a milder flavor than bourbon so if you are thinking this recipe will have a big whiskey flavor then you'll be disappointed. You could use bourbon in this recipe if you want (I would cut back on the amount of whiskey) but I'm really just looking for some of the grain and caramel flavor from the whiskey in this rendition.

Not Healthy: BBQ Sauce with Canadian Whiskey

Servings: Varies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20-30 minutes

Equipment:

• Cutting board and knife
• Measuring spoons and cups
• Medium saucepan
• Stove
• Kitchen utensils

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil (or other cooking oil)
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 8 oz can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup mustard
• 1 cup Canadian whiskey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the saucepan to medium heat. Meanwhile, mince garlic and dice 1/2 cup of onion (you do not need the rest of the onion for this recipe). 
2. Combine onion and olive oil in pan and cook until soft (3-4 minutes). Add garlic and cook additional thirty seconds.
3. Mix in the tomato paste, ketchup, mustard, whiskey, maple syrup, vinegar, chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Mix to a consistent texture. Reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Sauce will reduce as it simmers. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching or splattering. 
5. Continue to reduce to desired consistency (thinner for a marinade, thicker for a sauce). Taste and adjust if necessary. If adding wet ingredients (anything from ketchup to vinegar on the list) you may need to allow for additional simmering to return to the right consistency. If the sauce is too thick add small amounts of water and mix until it thins out to the desired consistency.