Fig Ancho Beer Barbecue Sauce Recipe

Name: Fig Ancho Beer Barbecue Sauce Recipe
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

Reprinted with permission from Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay. Copyright © 2015. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

Photo: Wyatt McSpadden

June 24, 2015

The perfect match for any smoked meat.

Barbecue master Aaron Franklin doesn’t serve this rich beer-spiked sauce at his red-hot barbecue restaurant in Austin, Texas, but he does make it for events around the city. Slightly sweet, slightly smoky, this Franklin barbecue sauce recipe is the perfect match for any smoked meat.

Ingredients

4 ancho chiles, rehydrated in 4 1/2 cups hot water and the water reserved
12 figs, grilled, stemmed, and quartered
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
4 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 (12-ounce) bottle (1 1/2 cups) stout or porter beer (Franklin uses Left Hand Milk Stout)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
6 Tbsp. fig preserves
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. coarse black pepper

Preparation

In a skillet over medium heat, sauté the chiles, figs, and onion in the butter for about 10 minutes, until the figs and chiles are tender and the onion is translucent. Transfer to a blender and add the sugar, stout, ketchup, both vinegars, the preserves, honey, salt, and pepper. Puree until smooth, adding as much of the reserved chile soaking liquid as needed to reach the desired texture. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 6 cups.