So, we made a Smoked Pork Butt for the first University of Miami football game at our house. A rub was massaged into the pork, apple cider was added to the smoke chips and then it smoked for hours. After going through all the trouble of smoking the Pork Butt, you really want the taste of the meat to come through; you don’t want to slap a cloyingly sweet Bar-B-Que sauce onto it that smothers all the flavor.

The solution? A super simple Carolina Vinegar Sauce made with only four ingredients (if you don’t count salt and pepper.) It comes together in a flash and stays good in the fridge for ages. The acidic sauce, with a kick of sweet and spicy, cuts through the fattiness of the Pork Butt and is the perfect foil for this dish. It would also be good on Smoked Brisket, or other fatty cuts of meat.

You know how I talked about Recipe Hoarders? People that refuse to give out their recipes to others who admire them? My husband Zeke is a repeat offender. When I asked him for this recipe, he refused to tell me, saying I was going to put it into my blog! Luckily, I found it (in the cookbook I bought him!) Project Smoke by Grilling God Steven Raichlen. It’s a cool cookbook that has recipes for smoking all kinds of things, like salt and fresh mozzarella cheese to Apple Crisp and Cheesecake.

Carolina Vinegar Sauce

Recipe by Steven RaichlenCourse: SauceCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

• 3/4 cup water

• 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt (sea or kosher)

• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

• 2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

• Place the vinegar and the water in a nonreactive bowl. Add the sugar, salt, black pepper and hot red pepper flakes, if using.
• Whisk until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Or place the ingredients in a large har with a tight fitting lid and shake to mix.

Notes

• Makes 2 cups.

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