HELLO from my bed, my favorite place to be during these almost-summer golden hours. i was just about to pick up my book (the best part of being in bed while it’s still light out is that you can read in bed with the curtains open!!!), instead i picked up my phone to text some friends the big news. but then i thought to myself, “this is perfect for personal.”
the big news is: i have found my bbq sauce trinity
TL;DR
here are three homemade bbq sauce for your summer grilling/smoking needs!
red sauce | white sauce | mustard sauce
THE BACKSTORY
i wasn’t much for any bbq sauces, or bbq for that matter, other than memphis-style (sweet and tomato-based sauce slathering on top of pork) until i moved to south carolina in 2013.
and, i must admit once i had my south carolina license in hand and began frequenting henry’s and mike and jeff’s, i was converted a little too quickly for my liking (and quietly - was it a betrayal to my hometown to like bbq other than memphis-style!?).
however, i didn’t keep quiet for that long, because daaaaaang, mustard sauce is a great addition to the flavor palette of smoked meats, especially when mixed with a little sweet bbq sauce. here’s what changed the bbq game for me – i decided to embrace *all* forms of bbq as comfort food instead of impatiently waiting for my comfort-food fix when i touched down in the land of the delta blues (it wasn’t ever frequent enough!).
after ten years of practicing bbq acceptance, i am all in on mustard sauce, green chile bbq sauce (come visit me and i’ll take you to lewis bbq, a texas bbq mecca), red sauce, white sauce (shout out to brick and tin’s brisket sandwich for the intro), and all other sauces, honestly.
THE TRINITY IS BORN
4OJ (4th of July) 2021, we hosted our wine club for bbq and hangs. not versed at all in the art of smoking meat, i turned to my reliable NYT cooking app and my favorite contributor, melissa clark. she has a recipe for pulled pork sandwiches (which *IS* amazing; a friend said it was the best bbq he’d ever had!? and it was cooked in a crockpot…. i rest my case.), but the real standout from that recipe was the BBQ SAUCE!!!
pulled pork sandwiches / REALLY good red sauce (NYT/Melissa Clark; gift link)
at that same party, i decided to explore homemade white BBQ sauce (a mayo-based alabama delicacy). it shouldn’t be shocking that i found the perfect recipe via my favorite mayo - Duke’s! if you’ve never had it, hunt some down. it’ll change your life and your BLTs.
lolly's alabama white BBQ sauce (Duke’s Mayo)
check out that product placement!
lastly, the final piece of the trinity was discovered tonight, two-ish years later, after taylor’s request for mustard sauce with our ribs (using another non-smoker cooking method!)
thanks be to google for sending me to “heygrillhey.com” (lol). truly though. this recipe is a WINNER.
carolina mustard bbq sauce (hey grill hey)
here’s to a summer filled with all the bbq sauces, grilling, and chilled watermelon your heart desires!
till next time,