Flowers & Whiskey BBQ

Roma tomatoes, cucumbers and marigolds. Then I ran out of potting mix.

I put some of the planters on top of 5 gallon buckets so not everything is on the same level. I'll need to get another bag of soil mix before I can finish. 

And, I'm so glad that I decided to get outside early and get it done before the temperature skyrocketed like crazy. But this morning was so beautiful.

My daughter arrived in mid-afternoon bringing a large package and pork chops and the request to make a whiskey barbecue sauce.

We made Italian butter grilled potatoes, coleslaw, grilled zucchini along with the marinated and glazed pork chops. Then used the remaining heat from the grill to grill some ham steaks we cut from a Tavern Ham.

I devised the marinade and the glaze two work together. The marinade included yogurt, cider vinegar, minced garlic, ketchup and soy sauce. We marinated the chops for about 30 minutes. I have the racks in my Weber kettle to set up indirect heat cooking creating zones of heat. I also precooked the Yukon Gold potatoes before grilling them with Italian Herb Butter baste so they would be ready when the chops were.

The real winner of the evening, though, was the Whiskey Glaze that topped off the chops, giving them good flavor and crackly edges.

Whiskey BBQ Glaze
Measurements are approximate as I usually mix until I like the taste, but this should be fairly close.
3/4 cup Whiskey
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Cumin, ground
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
3/4 tsp. Garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 cup Ketchup (I use one without HFCS)
Whisk together all ingredients, adjusting as needed until you have a thin, yet sticky liquid. Wait to brush layers of glaze on until your meat is mostly cooked through.

We brushed 3 to 4 layers of glaze on both sides of the chops while finishing them up. You could also use molasses or honey instead of brown sugar, just reduce the amount of ketchup.

The Italian Herb Butter Baste was simply a packet of Italian dressing mix blended with a softened stick of salted butter. The Yukon Gold mini potatoes were pre-cooked for 20 minutes in the microwave with a little water before being placed on the grill and basted with butter. I also cut some small zucchini in 4ths and basted them with the butter as well.

A simple dinner for a hot day with enough leftovers for lunch and a BBQ glaze for my daughter.
Laura