Panther Dave!

[Pope Flick]

Seeing as how I sort of kicked this off, I thought it best to post the results of part one of a ‘cross country’ barter between myself and Panther Dave.

 

In short, he sent me 3 bottles of BBQ sauce found only in Carolina, which will now be found in Southern California moving forward whenever I hit the grill.

 

I used 2 of the 3 bottles on my ribs over the weekend, and cooked them differently than I had before. Instead of doing a dry rub and soft boil I used one of the sauces as a marinade that I then slow cooked the ribs in (in an overn) over very low heat, before finishing on the grill with the second sauce.

 

I kind of made this up because I was working with sauces I had never even SEEN before.

 

The first one was this: Scotts Barbecue Sauce of which I will be ordering more. This stuff was basically liquid and had no thickness whatsoever. Ingredients: Vinegar, Salt, Pepper, Spices. Notice the period? That’s IT.

 

It has a tabsco-y flavor which was quite strong and spicy. I had a hunch on preparation that turned out to be right: in a shallow pan I cut my baby back rack into thirds and poured a good amount over them. I covered them in foil and put in an oven for about 4 hours at just over 200 degrees. After the first 2 hours I flipped them and glazed them with this sauce: Carolina Treet .

 

This stuff is AWESOME, and is as flavorful and unique as anything I have ever tasted. When I first saw it, I thought it was mustard base because of the color. Not so, this is vinegar sauce as well.

 

So, after the flip and baste, I went another 2 hours in the oven. I then did another flip and baste, but poured out the liquid from the cooking of the first sauce. The slow cook took a lot of the raw heat out of the Scott’s sauce and left the pepper and spices. The Carolina treat then got baked into the ribs for about another half hour after which I removed them and they looked like this.

 

I put them on the grill for about another 20 minutes, basting all the way with the Carolina Treet, and in the end they looked like this, but I was late with the camera, and they got killed by my buddies.

 

 

Next time, after I reorder, I’ll be going the whole way with the Scotts sauce, as I know I didn’t “use” it in the Carloina manner, which suggests not basting, but slow cooking then applying everything after cooking.

 

I owe a big thanks to Panther Dave, and some carne asada will be coming to you by the end of the month, as it’s going to be a little tricky for me to send something perishable like that but when a total stranger shells out $20 just to ship me barbecue sauce, well then you gotta show up as well.

 

My So-Cal friends really liked this stuff. They were surprised by the taste, for sure. As was I, but it was well worth it. I have an untouched bottle of the mustard sauce (The Sticky Fingers bottle) , and I’m keeping that until the next weekend or two. I have a hunch that stuff will be good on BBQ’ed fish so I’m looking to do something like that in the future. Also, the slow oven cook for the ribs really created a firm texture and I think the vinegar souce really made it seem like a lot of the fat came out of the meat because the ribs weren’t greasy at all.

 

I also have about 12-16 ounces of the ribs drippings/Scotts BBQ sauce that hit the fridge after I skimmed the fat. That stuff is coming back in the future as well.

 

Panther Dave – you are a chef extraordinaire, and a gentleman to boot. You can rest assured that the Panther Dave Way has infested Los Angeles, and I'll be using the season to tweak out some recipes that will hit my Super Bowl party that regularly hosts 350+ people.

 

- and I haven't even used the family recipe yet!

[PantherDave]

My pleasure Pope, and trust me-my family recipie put's them all to shame. I'm glad you and your crew enjoyed the sauce's-Peace PD.

[sundaynfl]

The Scott's is a great sauce! Nice recommendation PD! A buddy of mine from FL brought me some a couple of years ago. It's a nice change of pace!