Fire up the grill now that it’s time to celebrate July 4th and lots more summer with family and friends. The key to distinctive and delicious grilled or smoke-cooked food is how the main protein or produce is flavored before, during, and after the cooking. It’s the sauce, along with marinades, rubs, mops, and more that makes outdoor food taste great.

After travel to the barbecue citadels of the U.S. and the world, plus countless hours perfecting their craft, James Beard Award-winners Bill and Cheryl Jamison created a new book, The Barbecue Lover’s Big Book of BBQ Sauces (Harvard Common Press), that helps any backyard cook create championship-style BBQ with ease, whether smoking or grilling. Seventy of the recipes are for smoke-cooked ‘Q’; 55 are for grilling; and the remaining 100 are for either one, with specific directions on how to fine-tune the recipe for either method. It is organized by chapters on specific meats, poultry, seafood, vegetables and fruits.

Each chapter is divided into four sections: Dry Rubs, Pastes and Marinades; Mops, Sops, and Splashes; Sauces (both cooking and finishing or table sauces); and Other Condiments, which includes things like chutneys, salsas, flavored butters, and mayonnaises.

The Barbecue Lover’s Big Book of BBQ Sauces offers loads of recipes rooted in the BBQ capitals of the Carolinas, Memphis, Kansas City, and Texas, plus recipes that reflect current sophisticated palates – from the outdoor-cooking traditions of the Middle East, Latin America, and East and Southeast Asia.

The super bowl of barbecue competitions, the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue, is held every October in the country town of Lynchburg, Tennessee. Teams from across the U.S. and around the world smoke 3,500 pounds of meat, vying for the title of Grand Champion.

Jack Daniel’s Cookbook: Stories and Kitchen Secrets from Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House (Thomas Nelson, Inc.), authored by Jack Daniel’s own great-granddaughter Lynne Tolley and food writer Mindy Merrell, is a guide for home cooks to capture the spirit of Lynchburg in their own kitchens. After visitors tour the distillery, many dine at Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House. The book’s recipes range from cocktails and cocktail snacks to breads, salads, sides, dinner, barbeque and sweets.

Rye Whiskey and Maple Barbecue Sauce

(Courtesy of The Barbecue Lover’s Big Book of BBQ Sauces) Makes about 3 cups.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup vegetable or sunflower oil

2 cups minced onion

¾ cup rye whiskey

¾ cup pure maple syrup

2/3 cup ketchup

½ cup orange juice

½ cup cider vinegar or white vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon kosher salt or coarse sea salt, or more to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the butter and oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. When the butter melts, add the onion and sauté until golden, about 7 minutes. Mix in the remaining ingredients, reduce the heat to low, and cook the mixture until thickened and reduced, about 30 minutes. Stir frequently during the last 10 minutes of the cooking time.

Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature on or alongside cuts of pork. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, the sauce will keep for several weeks, but warm it before serving again.

Coconut Water Mop

(Courtesy of The Barbecue Lover’s Big Book of BBQ Sauces) Makes about 3 cups.

2 cups coconut water, such as Harmless Harvest

1 cup water

2 tablespoons coconut oil

Juice of 1 medium lime, optional

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Heat the mop before you plan to use it initially and keep it warm over low heat between bastes. Apply to the meat once or twice an hour.

Jack’s All-Purpose Barbecue Glaze

(Courtesy of Jack Daniel’s Cookbook) Makes about 2 cups.

This easy glaze isn’t for slow smoked pork barbecue, but it does wonders to perk up grilled meats, poultry or fish. Brush it on just minutes before you pull the meat off the fire to caramelize, but not burn, the sugars.

½ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine the whiskey, soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and garlic powder in a small saucepan. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Jack and Cola Pudding Cake

Makes 8 servings.

1 cup self-rising flour

¾ cup sugar

½ cup chopped salted peanuts

½ cup milk

¼ cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cola

¼ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the flour, sugar, and peanuts in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the milk, butter, and vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Pour the batter into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside.

Heat the cola until almost boiling. Combine the hot cola, whiskey, sugar, and cocoa powder in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture over the batter in the baking dish. Do not stir.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and set in the middle. The pudding will be bubbling up from the bottom around the edges of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven and let stand on a wire rack about 15 minutes. Serve warm in small bowls with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous dollop of whipped cream, spooning the warm pudding over the top.

Ann Hattes has over 25 years experience writing about both travel and food for publications both in the US and internationally. A senior living in Wisconsin, she’s a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association and the Midwest Travel Writers Association.

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