Bare Knuckle Bourbon Barbecue Sauce is rich and full of sweet blueberry and smoky bourbon flavor. It’s my new favorite sauce for ribs, roasts, and chicken.
You guys! Have you been following #BlueberryWeek?? There are some insane recipes shared so far this week. We have all gone well beyond blueberry pancakes and bread or muffins. My goodness. I have added so many recipes to my must make list. I’m going to have to order more blueberries from Seasonal Roots!
As soon as we announced blueberry week, I knew barbecue sauce would be on my list to make. I’ve made a few barbecue sauces. One of them I made with some Not Ketchup. The white pepper and blueberry Not Ketchup, I might add.
I made purple people eater sliders with the blueberry Not Ketchup. It has grape jelly, barbecue spices, and some liquid smoke. Since you make them in the slow cooker, it cooks the barbecue sauce and the pork all in one. The grape jelly adds an interesting flavor combined with the blueberry and white pepper Not Ketchup. Since I made one barbecue sauce with blueberries (or blueberry ketchup), I thought I’d make another one with fresh blueberries.
So, that’s what I did.
And since I can’t just make plain old blueberry barbecue sauce, I had to add some of my favorite bourbon. I added some KO Distilling Bare Knuckle Bourbon to this blueberry barbecue sauce. And let me tell you, this is one delicious barbecue sauce.
It seems like just yesterday, their PR firm contacted me about their moonshine margarita. Since I’m super close to them, and I had been there before, I am thrilled to support a local business. I mean, it takes like 10 minutes to get there. You can’t get more local than that. Well, you can but that’s the restaurant up the street.
Ever since then I’ve eagerly highlight and share my experiences and recipes using their products. The most popular being the lightning lavender margarita. It spread like wildfire across Instagram. To the point where I’ve am challenged to create a pink drink just as gorgeous as that one.
I’ve been to events and book signings at their distillery. When there’s a new recipe or product I’m there to check it out. I’ve even become a plank owner, so I’m invested in their success. Which is why I try to use their spirits as often as I can. And that’s why I decided to add some of their bourbon to this barbecue sauce.
The bourbon is a perfect pair with the blueberries in this Bare Knuckle bourbon blueberry barbecue sauce. It has that rich smoky flavor from the bourbon, a kick from the spices, and then sweetness from the blueberries and brown sugar.
When it finished simmer and I was putting it in a jar, the hubs took a taste. He was surprised at how delicious it turned out. I was, too, at how delicious it turned out. I haven’t really simmered a barbecue sauce not in a slow cooker. I will be making more barbecue sauces this way. They’re so rich and full of layers of flavor.
Why haven’t I been doing this all along?
Now I must confess that I’ve had a moonshine barbecue sauce on the much make list for along time. Like years. And it’s still on the list of things to make. It will just have their white whiskey in it, which is like moonshine. But so much better than moonshine. It’s almost syrupy going down and full of such great flavor and history. If you check out the lightning lavender margarita, I go into a bit of the history of white whiskey.
I’m not going to delve into the history of bourbon. That needs to be another post. And I’ve already talked about blueberries and their benefits. One thing I’ve never looked into is the history of barbecue sauce. Which could date back to the 1600’s. There are some that believe it’s from the new American colonies.
Fast forward a few hundred years and the arrival of German settlers to the Carolinas. They brought with them a type of mustard sauce which is the predecessor of the South Carolina mustard sauce. Which is, if course, the ancestor to the South Carolina mustard sauce. And countless other barbecue sauces.
What amazes me of the most is the range of sauces and styles. From the vinegar style of North Carolina to the tomato-based Kansas City sauce and finally the Alabama white barbecue sauce there’s such a range of regional styles. And there’s probably even more in the Midwest that we haven’t even talked about.
If you haven’t tried the Alabama white sauce you really should. It’s so good!! I used it on some chicken I made in this Alabama cobb salad. Not only does it have the white Alabama sauce, but there’s delicious hominy on this cobb salad. I should make it again. I love hominy.
There are four common denominators to all these barbecue sauces. They are either mustard based, vinegar and pepper based, light tomato based, or heavy tomato based. It’s sort of like the 5 colors of the Olympic rings. Y’all know about that right? One of those 5 colors are in all of the flags of all the countries in the world.
I would have to say this one is tomato based? It does have ketchup in it. It’s light on the ketchup side and heavy on the blueberry side. Hence the dark purple color. There are 3 cups of blueberries in there so you know it’s going to have great flavor.
It’s rich, thick, sweet, and has a smoky bourbon flavor to it. It’s perfect for chicken, pork, or beef. Not sure about fish, but would you really put barbecue sauce on fish? Shellfish maybe, but fish? That’s something I’ll have to think about. And maybe try?
Anyway, I can’t wait to baste some ribs with this delicious sauce. Stay tuned for that recipe later on this summer. I’m perfecting my pressure cooker ribs recipe. And it will include this delicious Bare Knuckle bourbon blueberry barbecue sauce.
Bare Knuckle Bourbon Blueberry Barbecue Sauce
Bare Knuckle Bourbon Barbecue Sauce is rich and full of sweet blueberry and smoky bourbon flavor. It's my new favorite sauce for ribs, roasts, and chicken.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic and sauté
until the onions begin to soften. - Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerate up to 2
weeks.
Thank you Ellen from Family Around the Table and Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures for hosting #BlueberryWeek. More than 20 top notch bloggers are sharing a variety of blueberry recipes from breakfast to dessert. Follow #BlueberryWeek on social media so you don’t miss one delicious recipe.
Blueberry Week Recipes Breakfast
- Blueberry Cheesecake Crescent Coffee Braid by Palatable Pastime
- Blueberry Orange Bread by Family Around the Table
- Fluffy Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes by Food Above Gold
- Glazed Blueberry Banana Coconut Bread by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Drinks & Appetizers
- Blueberry Peach Lemonade by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Blueberry Lime Margaritas by The Baking Fairy
Dinner
- Bare Knuckle Bourbon Blueberry Barbecue Sauce by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Summer Salad with Greens, Microflowers, and Berries by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Dessert
- Blueberry Galette by Caroline’s Cooking
- Blueberry Goat Cheese Ice Cream Bars by Crumb Top Baking
- Blueberry Crumb Bars by Sweet Beginnings
- Peachy Blueberry Hand Pies by The Freshman Cook
- Rosemary Linzer Cookies with Blueberry Preserves by The Spiffy Cookie
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