After a brisket has been smoked, it is basted in this sauce for a couple of hours before being sliced and served. Some cooks, however, slather the sauce on during the smoking.

Ingredients

Chili Powder, Cayenne, Margarine, Beer, Lemons, Parsley, Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions

This recipe is from Red Caldwell, who revealed the secrets of Texas barbecue to us when we were editors of Chile Pepper magazine. After a beef brisket has been smoked, it is basted in this sauce for a couple of hours before it is sliced and served. Some cooks slather the sauce on during the smoking. It can also be used with smoked lamb or pork.

• 2 tablespoons commercial chili powder

• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne chile (or more to taste)

• 1 pound butter or margarine

• 2 onions, chopped fine

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 ½ cups beer, such as Shiner Bock

• 4 lemons, quartered

• 1 bunch parsley tops, minced

• 2 cups vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

• 2 bay leaves

In a pot, melt the butter, add the onions and garlic, and saute for 4 to 5 minutes to soften. Add the beer, squeeze in the lemon juice, and add the lemon rinds to the pot. When the foam subsides, add all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a medium low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Yield: About 5 cups

Heat Scale: Medium

Excerpt from Barbecue Inferno, (Ten Speed Press, 2001), and available from

This rub is great for smoking any cut of pork–ribs, chops, steaks, or even a roast. It has its origins in one of the barbecue centers of America, Memphis, Tennessee, home of the Memphis in May barbecue cook-off. You can also use rubs on grilled meats, so the next time you grill pork (or lamb) chops, try this rub.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup paprika

• 2 tablespoons garlic salt

• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon onion powder

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon dry mustard

• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cayenne

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Store any unused rub in a sealed container in the freezer.

This finishing sauce is traditionally served over smoked ribs, but can also be converted into a basting sauce by adding more beer and a little more vinegar.

Ingredients

tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, hot sauce, butter, beer

Instructions

This is the sauce that is traditionally served over smoked ribs in Memphis and other parts of Tennessee. Some cooks add prepared yellow mustard to the recipe. It can be converted into a basting sauce by adding more beer and a little more vinegar. Add more hot sauce to taste, or substitute red chile or cayenne powder.

• 1 cup tomato sauce, preferably freshly made

• 1 cup red wine vinegar

• 2 teaspoons Louisiana-style hot sauce

• 1 tablespoon butter

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup light beer

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat, but serve warm over smoked meats.

Yield: 2 ½ cups

Heat Scale: Mild

This Swedish dish takes two days to make, but it’s well worth the effort. After curing, the gravlax is sliced as thinly as possible, placed on black bread, and served with a little of the mustard sauce spread over it.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

• 2 small bunches dill, coarsely chopped

• ½ bunch chervil, chopped

• 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

• 1 bunch lemon balm, chopped

• 2 tablespoons prepared hot mustard (with chiles)

• 1 tablespoon mustard powder

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons white vinegar

• 4 tablespoons canola oil

• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped dill

• 2 salmon fillets, about 1 ½ pounds each

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt, and pepper to make the sugar mixture. In another bowl, combine the dill, chervil, parsley, and lemon balm to make the herb mixture. In a third bowl combine the mustard, mustard powder, sugar, vinegar, oil, and dill to make the mustard sauce. Cover and refrigerate the mustard sauce.

Place 1 fillet skin side down in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle ½ the sugar mixture over the fillet, ½ of the herb mixture, the rest of the sugar mixture, and the rest of the herb mixture. Place the second fillet on top of the first, flesh to flesh, and wrap with plastic wrap. Place the wrapped fillets in a shallow pan and weigh them down with something heavy, like bricks covered in aluminum foil or a cast iron skillet.

Refrigerate for 24 hours, then flip the fillets, weigh them down, and refrigerated for another 24 hours. Serve with the mustard sauce.