Just in time for summer, Ranch 45, a cafe/butchery located in Solana Beach is gearing up for summer BBQs, picnic gatherings and beach days to come. Kitchen Manager DuVal Warner shares a BBQ sauce recipe easy enough to make at home, along with some summer grilling tips. Ranch 45 is home to a Butcher’s Case, offering premier cut-to-order beef products of the highest quality along with a selection of meats to go including Meaty Back Ribs from Brandt Beef, a family owned ranch dedicated to sustainable practices serving only premium natural beef, antibiotic free with no added hormones.
Chef DuVal’s BBQ Sauce
Recipe
1 Onion, diced
2 Carrots, diced
2 Celery Stalks, diced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
4 piece Bacon, diced
2 cups Ketchup
4oz Mustard
2 oz Tomato Paste
1 can Beer
6oz Red Wine
4 oz Honey
16oz Brown Sugar
6oz Cayenne Pepper
6oz Black Pepper
6oz Salt
4 oz Celery Seed
4 oz Ground Mustard
2oz Ground Ginger
6oz Paprika
½ bunch Fresh Thyme
3 Bay Leaves
Instructions
– Heat a 4 quart sauce pot over medium heat.
– Sauté carrots, onion, celery, garlic, bacon until bacon is rendered and crispy and vegetables are soft.
– Add ketchup, mustard, tomato paste.
– Then add beer, red wine, honey.
– Lastly add all dry ingredients. Bring mixture up to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
– Take out the thyme and bay leaves. Blend sauce until smooth.
– Cool completely. Will hold in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 7 days.
Steak Tips from Chef DuVal
- Use your favorite sauce as a marinade. Take about a 1/4 cup of the sauce you are planning on serving with your meat and place sauce and meat in a ziplock bag or a container. Let marinate for an hour. Make sure you throw away the sauce you marinated the meat in.
- Invest in a digital thermometer. The worst part about cooking meats at home is to serve either over cooked or under cooked meats. A digital thermometer will quickly become your best friend. To take the temperature, measure steaks in the middle so the tip goes to about the middle of the meat. Chicken should be checked at the leg joint or thickest part of the breast.
- Busy week nights, I need to feed my kids with in about 15 minute of getting home to keep the “hangries” away. Steaks are my go to. Pull the meat out of the fridge and season with salt and pepper. Then cut up your vegetables and other items you are going to cook. This will give the meat a few minutes to come up to room temperature. In an ideal world, I’d give the meat at least a half hour out on the counter. I heat a sauté pan on medium heat. Add about a teaspoon of olive oil and sear the steaks for about 4 minutes per inch per side for a medium rare steak. The biggest trick is to let the meat rest for 3-5 minutes to allow the juices of the steak to settle.
